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Does India have the bowling to do well in the WC?

Your Views

Name: Viren Mann
Message: Dear Sir, I have played for Delhi state's under 15 squad for Vijay merchant trophy. In my professional opinion, Indian one day team has only two seamers 1. zaheer Khan (the best) and 2.Srinath (is there any choice) he is over 35 yrs. instead of four pace bowlers; coz 3 would play in the 11 and the 4th is backup in 16 member team. They are playing and still compaling; Nehra (who is very good oneday and very bad in the next match, accoding to so aclled armchair experts, remember they will not groom him but will buther him. You watch out.) and 4 bowler; being Agarkar, (who is playing coz of his political lobby from Mumbai then for on merit alone).

Why we have not tried Tinu Yohanan despite selecting and carrying him for atleast two tournaments (England and sri Lanka)? only selectors (read self-servers- can answer to 100 crore indians).Indian cricket board including some of the captains and coaches have never even sicerely and consistently;tried to develop mediam pace attack, instead for many yrs tilldate they have discouraged paceres and relied too much on spinners.

Today we have neither the world class spin nor the pace attack. Infact if you ask the experts (ex-test pace-bowler players of repute) to do an honest audit of our bowling attck then our attack today is only better to Bangladesh, Holland, namibia, UAE and so on.It's challenge.

Only Zaheer khan is a class act rest of them including kumble and harbjan are passengers in the team. No one fears our attack. no one in the World. In South Africa, the wickets are green, moist and bouncy. The bowl hardly spin. In fact sehwag is a better bowler then the other spinners in the team coz his length and line are very good and he applies his brains before and after each delivery. He himself is a good batsman and that helps him to anticipate and adjust to the batting style of each batsmen.

Why other bowlers are so inconsistent and clueless to the batting? that is why they are being buthered coz they are complacent and do not apply the brains before and after each delivery. One delivery can decide the outcome of a match while our bowlers are delivering wholesale clueless stuff!!! For example; While other countries like Sri Lanka have given opportunity to Dilhara Fernando (a desciple of MRF pace acedemy) ironically our selectors and board members are not sincere to the task of finding and grooming the pace attack. today the spinners like kumble and harbhajan are good for Tests but are ineffective for onedayers.

Today, we can pose questions but unfortunately for the country's pride to do well in the next World cup, we do not have even the time and much worse is that, our Indian Board of Cricket is not sincere to pace bowlers.

Example, if carefully analyse the no. of repeat opportunities given to a batsman then to a pace bowler then u will know yourself that we are biased against bowlers while people like Vinod kambli and VVS Laxman were given more then 12 repeat opportunities for a comeback but we (read Cricket board)have deliberately not allowed Mohanty, Sunil walson, AbiKurvile and the latest Tinu Yohanan.

It's not that we dont have bowlers but we do not have them coz we do not want them to represent the country. We indians play the worst kind of aparthied with pace bowlers. Today, in Gurgaon we have a 15 yr young bowler who swings the ball both ways and has an averge speed of 120 KMS per hour but he does not have a God father? He will go waste!!! There are so many of them in the country but we do not want them.

We want batsman like Sehwag to be bowlers9no harm or pun intnded, he is good) and bowlers like agarkar and harbhajan to come ahead of Yuvraj and Kaif and do the batting (how about their basic primary job of good bowling? the only place they pinch as hitters is our country's botomline!!! not the opposition!!! Our team lacks an attitude for good fielding. Our captain himself does not participate in the practise sessions? Who else y can blame/ A good fielding side is going to add 20 runs to their batting total by way of exceelent fielding, in the next world cup.

our batsmen are very happy to hammer the boundry instead of taking quick singls and converting the 1 to 2. These aspects of exceelent fielding and very good running between the wicket is going to be decider in the world cup. many teams today are almost close to each other.

Only Australia is truely no 1, South africa will have the home advantage. India, pakistan, England, Sri Lanka are going to face cut throat games for two positions for the semi final contest.india will have to perform better then others in the area of fielding and quick running for singles and twos. With India's good batting and an average bowling attack the only balancing factor for self help is all smart hard work in the form of excellence in fielding and running ebtween the wickets.

Would u pl share this article with people who inturn can help indian cricket from this state of self inflicted and suicidal staet of affairs? It really hurts that 100 crore indians are not world champs which they deserve to be.

Thanx and regards, Come back with your comments. Viren Mann


Name: Erin Nambiar
Message: No way!Apart from Zaheer its highly exagerrating to say that India boasts of a classbowling attack.Bajji is a threat in tests but not in onedayers , not even in the subcontinent.Srinath is capable of world calss levels but his age can be a factor here since, unlike wasim or waqar, Sri has to reply on his raw pace.Nehra and Agarkar wont be my first choice to an international game leave the world cup!India should use the one day games against windies and kiwis to groom new fast(medium)bowlers like Irfan,Balaji, Narendrapal singh and co.Down the road atleast one of them can be another Zaheer!


Name: True Indian Again
Message: Unless the opposite team are more pathetic then Indian bowlers !


Name: mark
Message: yes a lot well and we would have a better bowling attack without agarkar.


Name: muskateer
Message: Nope! not just in world cup but in any match as long as India have pathetic bowlers like Ajit Agarkar,Kumble,veteran Srinath ,India need... not just fifth bowler but 2 specialist pace bowlers who can support Zaheer , and a spinner who can replace Mr. Kumblee the spinner who cant spin.


Name: chris
Message: yes,yuvraj,sachin ,sehwag sourav and yadav or bangar could make a 20 over spell taking out agarkar and another regular bowler.because being regular bowlers they are not bowling better than these guys


Name: siva kondapalli
Message: i guess so,our bowling strategies would be improved if only agarkar is dropped out of the team siva from usa


Name: phani daggubati
Message: yes our bowling should improve a lot.i am reciding now in the usa and we are watching the matches through dish paying lots of money and we think its waste to buy matches if agarkar is playing in the match.there are lot of young talent to come out we can try some of them in these few one days before going to worldcup.this is my humble request which if possible could be sent to the team management. form usa, phani.


Name: seshu palakurthi
Message: yes,only if agarkar is left out of the 11 mamber squad. from uk, seshu.


Name: lakshman paruchuri
Your views:extremely not,we have a lot to improve.we should get new talents out to play leaving out the bowlers like agarkar who cannot use his common sense playing for this time.63 runs in 6 overs is ridiculous i think even a part time bowler could bowl a lot better.i can't understand why he is in the team still.if possible please redirect this to the team authorities. lakshman.


Name: murali
Message: yes and only if you take out the worst bowler agarkar out of the team.


Name: chandu
Message: yes a lot better.but i think some of our part time bowlers could bowl a 20 overs spell taking out two bowlers like agarkar and kumble whom i think are not even fit to play counties and get new talent or get 2 batsmen into the team which would make stronger for worldcup. if i can i would like to send my suggestion to ganguly and coach john wright.


Name: rizwan
Message: yes,if the indian bowler bowl in the line of the stump.zaheer & srinath will be the key bowlers.


Name: Ameet Ubhayaker
Message: Lots has been spoken of a bowling all rounder. My question is...how about a reserve pacer. Debashis Mohanty has proved that he is lethal on swinging tracks. Harvinder Singh and Tinnu Yohanan can also be blooded in Wright's experiments. We need someone who can fit the bill if Zaheer Khan, Srinath or Nehra break down. Plus, why can't Wright promote Kaif and Yuvi? Also, messing with the batting is weird as whichever experimental batsman plays splendidly is likely to be dropped when tendulkar returns. We should think of playing as many bowlers as possible. Also, my personal opinion is that Srinath can be dispensed iwth.


Name: vicky
Message: no it is very inconsistent in this department. a lot of improvement is expected in this field


Name: mansih
Message: no i do not think that they ahve the capabilities of bowling out a side even in the limited form of game


Name: Tapan Mehta
Message: No not yet. Its is a pity that we are still unable to think that in south african pitches we will never ever field a team with 2 spiners. We have to have a good pace attack. We have srinath who has always done well in SA and also Zaheer is going great guns. Now Agarkar has not been consistent but I guess that you should not goonly on recent performances. I think that the pitches in SA will suite Agarkars style of bowling he can always be a strike bowler. He should be working towards his economy rate rather than anything else. Thus I feel that with this people in hadn the best India can do is make them practice hard in SA conditions and also keep a reserve strength of Nehra and the likes. I firmly believe that this Indian team has the ability and the attitude to go all the way. ALL THE BEST TO INDIA


Name: Santosh
Message: i think we have an average bowling...zaheer and srinath r good...in the spin department we have only harbhajan..kumble is not a killer as he used to be...we can have agarkar who can bat good ...and the fifth bowler can be part timers like saurav and sachin with sehwag chipping in few..... we should always go with four specialist bowlers and put more empansis on the batsmen...as one day is an batsmans game....


Name: Kummzz
Message: With Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nekra and Srinath we can be a decent bowling attack and the Slow Medium bowling of Ganguly and Tendulkar (remember Tendulkar was doing miracles with medium pace in england, the very reason that lead to the controversy) can also be used to a good extent to stop the opposition batting (just to refresh, INDIA won its world cup in 1983 with its medium pace bowling, and who doesnt know England has good swinging pitches). Coming to the "Spin Twins" they can be made to play on and off during the World Cup itself. Zaheer khan is working up good line and length, most needed in SA. Ashish Nehra produces good swing that will leave even the good batsmen thinking. Time and again Srinath has been a proven race horse and his bowling statstics are better outside the subcontinent. Agarkar, (no offense to you Agarkar), but i think India has given him a lot of chances than any other living/dead person who has ever played for India. Dont u think Agarkar should give India a break and let the poor country try some other bowlers of better calibre. With all being said and done,if Ganguly uses the resources at his helm to a proper extent, then we can give best of the teams a run for their money.


Name: JPS
Message: Yes, Specially in S.A. They have fast bowling pitch. Try bangar. I think he is good for One Day because he swimm bowl two way. Also instead of Kumble try one more regular fast bowler.. mohanti or new one


Name: Bhaskar
Message: The only class bowlers we got are Zaheer & Harbajan. We need to find more bowlers. I think Mohanty has been given a raw deal. He can swing bowl both ways.


Name: rahul
Message: i have seen this guy called irfan patha bowl i think he should be introduced i the indian team as soon as possible.india i feel is a very well balanced team at the moment.we need one good batsman to fill the one-down posistion and 1 good wicket taking bowler who good give zaheer good company.


Name: Gururaj
Message: No. The only backlog India is currently facing is poor bowling attack. We need good pace attack for conditions in S.Africa.


Name: Srikanth
Message: Yes Indian Will definately try its best for Winning the World Cup! Good Luck to the Indian Cricket Team!!!! Cheers


Name: Kishore
Message: Discussing about a bowler/all rounder does not make sense keeping WC just less than 3 months. What were we doing all these days ? Din't we get time or chance to experiment ? We got to keep our fingers crossed and go with the current bad bowling combination. Who knows some times they click.


Name: purshottam pai
Message: I feel India have a pretty decent attack right now with Zaheer and Nehre opening the bowling and then supported by the spin duo of Kumble and Bhajji.The only slot remains is that of an allrounder who can bat and bowl equally good.And there is only one player who fits this slot.Robin Singh.Still capable of winning last-ball matches for India single-handedly,Robin has expressed his desire to play for the World Cup 2003 and is fully fit.I feel the selectors should select him at least in the squad of 15.Who knows,this choice would turn out to be a blessing in disguise !!!!!!!


Name: Murali
Message: The bowling is definitely not good enough to win the world cup. It nay get India to the semi finals at the best, and really with this bowling they do not deserve to win the world cup. If India reaches the semi finals , it would be a great achievement. This bowling would be massacred by S Africa and Australia , and to a lesser extent by New zealand and England.


Name: chela-ramaani
Message: The only way India wins world cup is all the batsmans make runs and pile 350 runs everytime. We don't have ballers who can win matches. Only Zaheer. others - tourists. so best idea, drop one more baller, and bring in one more batsman, like Kambli who has world cup experience and help us make 350. otherwise best idea... start experiment for 2007 world cup.


Name: unknown
Message: Zaheer Khan has definitly improved but other than that the bowling is pretty mediocore. Ganguly is trying to bring on All rounders into the team but we need a good bowler. Who cares abt batting, we already have the big three and now Yuvraj, Sehwag and Kaif are also contributing.


Name: Chaitanya Kuber
Message: Yes and No. I think a fit and fired up Zaheer, Bhajji, Kumble, Srinath will do the trick fine. But the key is the 5th bowler. India's chance will totally depend on this 5th of bowler and how many runs this 5th bowler is taken for and how many wickets can be taken. Let's see what they come up with in next 12 matches in terms of the 5th bowler. JPYadav is getting colored everywhere, but it would interesting to see him and Bangar bowl in NewZeland in conditions that do help seam bolwers.


Name: Ravi Singh
Message: No India does not have it to go all the way in the World Cup.But if the batting clicks they have a chance of winning the whole thing.


Name: karan
Message: yeh india have to bow better in the world cup all the job is not only of the batsmen if bowler will not do anything india will not win . if they really want to make a name of india then they shuld have to do bowl better with perfect bowlers


Name: mohd khalid
Message: no, in my no india does not have bowler who can win matches


Name: Ramesh Subramanian
Your views:Zaheer,Srinath,Nehra and Harbhajan should form the core of the Indian attack. Kumble has been sorted out by most players. It would be sensible to look at other options. Ajit Agarkar as a bowling allrounder is a joke. He is too expensive. Ganguly must stop hanging on to this guy. A batting lineup comprising Sachin,Saurav,Sehwag,Dravid,Kaif and Yuvraj does not need an allrounder to win a game. It would be better to go in with 5 regular bowlers. India could blood somebody like Balaji in the ongoing series. Another option could be Bangar who is a decent bat and a steady bowler.


Name: Rajeev Surapaneni
Message: Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar are all what we got! Search for a better bowler is not an option as there is no time. Our best chances will be with the current team format. Lets hope that three of our batsmen click all the time and bowlers restrict the opposition under 280.


Name: S. Kamaraj
Message: India will need one more world class bowler more than zaheer. If that will be happen the WC 2002 will be in the hands of India


Name: kiran
Message: if the team with zaheer & srinath it will look good.but incase they are wounded inany one of the game it will make india really weak.


Name: rajesh malik
Message: Recent past has shown the best of Indian bowlers. If they continue on the current form and a bit more on the consistency side, Indians will have copious reason to cheer about. Ajit Agarkar seems scratchy most of the time. He started his career with a bang. But now he shud conjure something new to stay in the team. A lot of people wud be waiting to see Harbhajan performing on bouncy tracks. Well! can't say about him. Rest of the lot seems to be fine with Zaheer Khan is in form and other bowlers giving their effort. Best of luck to the boys.


Name: Panchhi
Message: India doesn't have good bowling. India should try youngters and retire old player like kumble, Srinath. They are worthless now. These players cannot win matches for India now.



Name: rohit
Message: Only Zahir seems to be world class bowler. without him indian bowling looks like a dead duck against weakest west indians.That means no chance in wc2003. .......ohh


Name: saurabh kulyana
Message: well i think india have a pretty good bowlng attack for the world cup which run through any side on any given day !! we saw an example of that in ICC cup in Srl Lanka . so i think india will definetly win the world cup. " BEST OF LUCK "


Name: B.SUDARSAN
Message: NO,WE DO NOT HAVE GOOD BOWLERS EXCEPT ZAHEER,SO THIS WILL NOT HELP THE WORLD CUP.


Name: pankajmohindru
Your views:It is very tough to win the world cup with this kind of bowling attack specially when Ajit Agarkar kind of bowlers are in the indian team


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