Bowling bawling

It's frustrating when you expect (something) from them. I never had any expectations from this bowling attack. Yes, you do hope that they perform, but realistically it was not possible. I am trying to find a suitable word to describe their performance. In one word, they were hopeless. Look, this is more or less the same bowling attack that has been there since 2011, and they haven't performed in South Africa, New Zealand or England where conditions for bowling were better.
—Sunil Gavaskar (December 27, 2014)

It's ordinary. That's all I can say. I've seen a few fast bowlers, who come in and bowl quick when they start, but they don't last which is unfortunate. Something is going wrong. I don't know if it's the training or whatever. Look at Ishant Sharma. When he came in, he was quick. Now he's no longer quick. He's not the only one. I've seen it happen to quite a few others too. They are still good bowlers, but the pace is not there and they don't create as much havoc as they should.
—Michael Holding (May 4, 2013)

Before you even think of rubbishing the yesteryear greats and their views on India's bowling attack by saying that ODI cricket is a different ball game, you may want to think again. White flannels or blue jerseys, the personnel are largely the same.

But that's not the moot point.

For the first time — probably ever — India go into the World Cup without a genuine world-class pacer or spinner.

In 1983, 1987 and 1992, there was Kapil Dev, with enough and more reliable partners ranging from Madan Lal to Mohinder Amarnath to Roger Binny to Javagal Srinath. In 1996, Srinath took over the mantle with Manoj Prabhakar and Venkatesh Prasad to support him. Anil Kumble was, of course, the team's main spinner and the tournament's highest wicket-taker. Ditto in 1999 with Debasis Mohanty in the mix.

The year 2003 saw Srinath assume the role of a senior statesman with Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh rising to the occasion more than once. Even the 2007 squad had more than one champion bowler.

And, well, you don't have to be reminded about the 2011 campaign, do you? With Khan, Nehra, Munaf Patel and Singh hitting the right notes, India were served just right.

MS Dhoni, who faces the unenviable task of masterminding the World Cup defence, doesn't enjoy the luxury of a potent bowling attack this time around. Let's see the bowlers at his disposal — Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. That apart, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma are at his beck and call. However you look at it, the attack is weak, inexperienced and unreliable.

With only 75 ODIs under his belt, Sharma is the leader of the pack. It's grossly unfair, so to speak, considering that the Delhi lad has rarely exuded confidence in the shorter form of the game. Apart from that brilliant over he bowled in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013, Sharma has largely blown cold.

A look at the statistics of the last 12 months will tell you that Shami has done pretty well. With 38 wickets in 16 ODIs since January 17 last year, he is well ahead of Jadeja (25 in 17), Ashwin (23 in 17), Yadav (17 in 10), Kumar (14 in 16) and Patel (14 in nine). Sharma featured in only five ODIs in this period.

That the World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand should provide our bowlers with some hope. Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, who featured in three World Cups, agrees.

"Given that the grounds in Australia are bigger, our bowlers will not be under as much pressure as they are in the subcontinent," he says. "Also, the ongoing tri-series should throw light on how prepared they are. Ishant is the leader of the pack, but I think Shami is our No. 1 ODI bowler. I also hope Bhuvi recovers soon enough. The two new white balls on offer will help him generate enough swing."

The problem with the Indian bowlers is that they don't seem to be learning from their mistakes. That's what we are accustomed to seeing since 2011. One has lost count of the number of matches — Tests and ODIs — we have lost after being in winning positions.

According to Agarkar, the prevalent rules in ODI cricket make life difficult for a bowler. "In my time, we had four fielders in the ring. That was hard enough. Now, there's an extra man in the 30-yard circle. Whatever you do, there's a gap in the field. That's why bowlers go for so many runs," he explains. Not to forget factors like batting powerplay, big bats and never-ending batting line-ups.

Agarkar stresses on the need to have plans in place. "You've got to keep chatting. The senior bowlers have to talk to the younger guys during the game," he says. During his time, Agarkar benefited from the likes of captain Sourav Ganguly and senior bowlers Srinath and Kumble. Even Sachin Tendulkar made it a point to speak to the bowler every now and then.

"The key is to out-think the batsman. Our bowlers should try and get it right. That's the key to success in an event like the World Cup. Perfect the yorker, but pitch it up most of the time," he adds.

India must try out every possible bowling combination in the tri-series. With just four specialist seamers in the mix, it's obvious that three will play in every game. Then there's Binny. Ashwin, Jadeja and Patel will have to do more than just restrict the flow of runs.

Look at any successful World Cup unit and you'll see they make a habit of bowling out the opposition in every second game. India's best ODI teams — 1983 World Cup, 1985 World Championship of Cricket, 2003 World Cup and 2011 World Cup — did so consistently.