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Finally Pace is India's ace!!

wahindiawah

Banned
Indian seamers step into the limelight

By Oliver Brett
BBC Sport in Centurion



Nehra was the star of the show as India defeated England
Before the tournament started, everyone reckoned India's best hopes of glory lay in their batting.

Now it is their three fast bowlers who are attracting equal attention at the World Cup.

Sure, Sachin Tendulkar has bounced back from a recent spell of poor form to post a series of big scores that have sapped the self-belief from a number of sides.

But the two young left-armers, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, together with the much-more experienced Javagal Srinath, have been causing quite a stir.

When India won the World Cup in 1983, it was with seamers like Mohinder Armanath, Roger Binny and of course Kapil Dev, who found consistent movement in the air and off the deck.

INDIA ATTACK
Ashish Nehra 12 wickets (average 16.4)
Javagal Srinath 14 wickets (average 17.9)
Zaheer Khan 11 wickets (average 22.8)
World Cup bowling averages

And Indian coach John Wright bristles with pride when told that a number of judges reckon his team to be at the strongest level it has ever been in terms of seam-bowling.

"They are certainly exciting people at the moment," he says.

"To have two left-armers in the side is a little bit unique of course but to have all three of our seamers firing at the same time is so good for us."

Wright adds: "You can see the difference it's made to our performance in the field. Last year we came to South Africa with Ashish and Zaheer as very young lads and they had pretty tough tours.

"But they are learning and doing a good job now. I'm pleased people are seeing that, because it's important for our success as a team that we have depth throughout the side."

Nehra is generating some serious pace despite having to wait until the 12th over or so to get his hands on the ball.

He is the fourth fastest bowler in the tournament and that pace allied with a perfect line was the undoing of England under the lights at Durban
Former Test cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says that Nehra and Khan reminds him of Pakistani pace attack when they were in thier prime!!
 
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marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
wahindiawah said:
Former Test cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says that Nehra and Khan reminds him of Pakistani pace attack when they were in thier prime!!
I'd say that's going a bit over the top, but they have coped with the conditions better than anyone honestly expected them to (and be honest here, did you?) - and I think that they're conceding less runs per over than any other side?
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
Sanjay Manjrekar just compared Nehra & Khan to Wasim & Waqar in their prime! lol lol lol.

Nehra & Kahn are good but they've been inconsistent in some matches, Wasim & Waqar were just in your face all the time and a team was lucky to score 25 runs if that off their 10 overs without losing 4 wickets per player.
 

luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
Tim said:
Sanjay Manjrekar just compared Nehra & Khan to Wasim & Waqar in their prime! lol lol lol.

Nehra & Kahn are good but they've been inconsistent in some matches, Wasim & Waqar were just in your face all the time and a team was lucky to score 25 runs if that off their 10 overs without losing 4 wickets per player.
At present, there is no comparison. Now, if they are still doing it in 5-7 years time, then fine, they can be considered to be the equivalent of the Pakistani aces.

Nehra had 6/23 and 4/35, brilliant. He also had 0/35/ 0/30 and (chuckle) 2/74.

Zaheer's analyses have been much more consistent, taking 11 wickets without ever really going for a lot of tap.

India's big advantage this WC is that Javagal Srinath has given them a third seam option - 14 wickets at 19.75 at a very economical rate of 4.07. Now for me, he has been the more Wasim-like.
 

V Reddy

International Debutant
He was comparing them to Wasim looking at their bowling in this WC only. He was telling Nehra has a pretty similar action to Wasim and in this WC ONLY he was bowling like Akram.


Nehra used to swing the ball a long way before. He is not able to find it since the England tour. I thought he bowled the same way in Eng also but maybe the increase in pace is doing the trick for him.
 

krkode

State Captain
If you noticed, he wasn't comparing them. He said they reminded him of them. And there's a difference :P

Why, the way Yuvraj Singh bats reminds me of Bevan, but he is no way, yet as good as the latter.
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
krkode said:
If you noticed, he wasn't comparing them. He said they reminded him of them.
Well I've never been reminded of those great bowlers looking at the Indian pace attack. Nehra and Wasim have been compared because they have similer actions although Nehra's run up is a lot longer and Wasim's action is more of a smooth transferrance of weight than Nehra's, who gains most of the pace from a lean back. Srinath allways has had an odd looking action, the only player he reminds me of is Mushtaq Ahmed who stuck both his arms up in the air in a similer way. Zaheer Khan takes a huge jump before he reaches the crease and the only player I know who takes such a leap is Henry Olonga and he's a right-armer...
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Rik said:
the only player I know who takes such a leap is Henry Olonga and he's a right-armer...
Klusener takes a pretty high leap when he's bowling his quick offies.....
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
Klusener takes a pretty high leap when he's bowling his quick offies.....
Yeah actually he does bare a reseblence in his leap when he brings his hand up to his face when he's aiming. He looks just like he's about to shoot a gun.
 

krkode

State Captain
Rik said:
Well I've never been reminded of those great bowlers looking at the Indian pace attack.
But you are not Sanjay Manjrekar :P

Donald used to have a pretty high leap in his young days too:
 

krkode

State Captain
Rik said:
Yes, I'm aware of that...I see things as they are rather than as I wish ;)
Maybe that's what he sees it too. When you see my house, you see, some house. When I see my house, I see home :P

When you see Khan and Nehra, you see two more ordinary pampered bowlers, when Manjrekar sees Khan and Nehra he gets reminded of Akram and Waqar. :D
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
krkode said:
Maybe that's what he sees it too. When you see my house, you see, some house. When I see my house, I see home :P

When you see Khan and Nehra, you see two more ordinary pampered bowlers, when Manjrekar sees Khan and Nehra he gets reminded of Akram and Waqar. :D
Same colour hair maybe?
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Well I think now is the time for my bass guitar, to have his say:

Rik: Steve Harmison reminds me of the great West Indians of yesteryear, I think it's his action.

Squier P-Bass: No, he's just about as good as most of the current crop...;)
 
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krkode

State Captain
Rik said:
Same colour hair maybe?
Very likely. Maybe it's also because their facial shape is somewhat similar. I would say their bodily physique is also quite similar...although Nehra may be a bit on the slim side...

You know, Rik has a point. Maybe Manjrekar got reminded of Akram and Waqar because of some physical feature and not their bowling :P

You guys assume too much :lol:
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
No way is Nehra and Zaheer as good as Waqar and Wasim in their prime. They have to improve considerably and maintain a very high standard for atleast a decade for such comparisons to have any meaning.
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
What is the point of this statement?
Well I wanted to put my point across as an Alter ego without blatantly ripping Eddie off without using an animal...so I used one of my most prized possessions!
 

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