Indian pace
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Is the current Indian pace line-up their greatest ever?

Mustafa Ismail·
Test
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It’s a great sight for fans. For the first time, Indian pace bowlers are collectively troubling the opposition with sheer speed and bounce – hitting the batsman on the helmet and bowling toe-crushing yorkers…

After picking up 20 wickets in almost every away Test match since the start of the year, the consensus has been that this Indian pace group is the greatest the country has ever produced. India have produced a few top-class pace bowlers in the past, including Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan – but this is the first time that they have a group that bowls so well in tandem and are all world-class. A key factor is the speed at which the current bowlers are bowling. One would typically associate Indian pace bowlers with pitching the ball up and swinging it but this attack is hitting the deck hard and beating batsmen with raw speed.

Ishant Sharma is on his third tour of Australia and is bowling better than ever which is astonishing considering he’s now 30 years-old. He has focused on his line and length more and is able to move the ball in to the right-hander at sharp speeds. To add to that, his fitness has also improved and he can bowl over after over without getting tired, which has helped him get wickets. A lot of ex-Australian players were pleasantly surprised by Ishant because his last tour was underwhelming and he is four years older now, but the Indian pacer has proved many wrong with his dedication to the game.

Mohammed Shami has that natural fast-bowling talent, and you can see since his debut that the man possesses the ability to run through the opposition with his pace. He always had the variety but has now developed the kind of accuracy which troubles the batsmen often – be it through a well-directed short ball or a quick yorker. Shami has picked up more wickets in the second innings, but that’s not because he’s bowled better towards the end. He gets awfully close in the first innings as well, but the pressure he builds allows other bowlers to reap the rewards.

Particularly to the left-handers, Shami has been sublime in the series against Australia. An example is how he set up Usman Khawaja in the second innings of the third Test. Khawaja was looking good and pulling off some nice shots but Shami decided to bowl just outside the off-stump and encourage the batsmen to leave the ball. After a few balls, Shami got one to jag back in and got Khawaja out plumb in front.

Jasprit Bumrah has been the find of the year for India. Initially known as a limited-overs specialist, Bumrah was part of Test team on the tour to South Africa and has not looked back since. With an unusual action and short run-up, Bumrah is the most effective non-conventional Test bowler and the amount of pace he generates is astonishing.

He offers a lot of variety and has the ability to bowl almost every ball – but his accuracy and patience as a fast bowler is what’s most commendable. Bumrah will only change it up once in a while, as he chooses to stick to a certain line and length to make it difficult for the batsmen to score. The ball of the series so far has to be the slower yorker that dipped on Shaun Marsh and trapped him LBW on the last ball before lunch.

The has been a great year for the Indian pace battery trio and they’ve certainly made the whole team better over the past year. Now that they’re getting support from their batsmen, they could prove even more dangerous as they’ll have the opportunity to win games more convincingly. You can clearly see that they have plans for each batsmen and the beautiful part is the manner in which they are executing these plans. Also, the way in which the Indian pacers have used the old ball gives them an edge over the opposition because they’re getting it to reverse and have enough variations to bamboozle the batsmen.

The fitness of the three bowlers has also been remarkable and the management will want to make sure that they get enough rest and avoid any unnecessary injuries. Without a doubt, this has been India’s best-ever fast bowling line-up and the fact that they have built a solid bond makes it even more difficult for those who come up against them. Hopefully, the performances of these three quickies will inspire more youngsters in India to bowl faster and keep the talent flowing.