M.S. Dhoni threw his existing situation into stark relief when he recalled his first reaction to the two-bouncer rule. “I remember when it was introduced. I was asked about it at a press conference and I said: ‘We don’t bowl even one bouncer, I’m going to have to carry the two home.” Give him two more today, and he may still find use for another.
Such has been the relentless quality of India’s fast bowling at the World Cup. Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have taken 42 wickets among them, fuelling India’s unbeaten run to the semifinals.
They have bowled fast, short, and discovered consistency that had previously proved elusive. Thursday, though, is their moment of truth.
Whatever the nature of the surface at the SCG, Shami, Yadav and Mohit will be aware that a great deal is riding on them, on their ability to keep Australia’s imposingly-muscled batting group quiet. It will be their hardest test yet — of that there is no doubt.
Of critical importance will be their opening spells, that reduced West Indies to 35 for four, South Africa to 40 for two, Pakistan to 11 for one, Bangladesh to 33 for two, and Zimbabwe to 33 for three. Yadav got it wrong against Ireland and India quickly found itself in a position where a better team would easily have made over 300.
Australia is aware of their potential for damage. “They’re looking to be aggressive with the new ball, having been here for four and a half months has probably helped them adapt their lengths,” Aaron Finch said here on Tuesday.
“Shami is bowling well. He’s swinging the ball, which is a huge factor, I suppose, for them at the start of the innings. Shami is up there with the leading wicket-takers of the tournament. Yadav, Mohit Sharma, and he have been bowling well as a group. With our side we’re confident that we can negate that. They’ve probably played a lot more cricket here and got used to the conditions, the length you bowl and stuff like that.”
Shami and Yadav were erratic at times during the Test series but they will be heartened by their rapid improvement. According to Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, the bowling coach, has had a great deal to do with this. What is for certain is that the three bowlers will not be wanting for confidence. What they must not do is panic should things fail to go according to plan early on.
“It’s the general psyche of the Indian fast bowlers that they want to use the new ball well because in the sub-continent they don’t get to bowl a lot,” Dhoni said recently.
“So when they get a chance to bowl, they want to bowl everything in the same spell — in-swing, out-swing, yorkers, everything. But now with a few away tours, they’ve learnt the importance of just hitting that one area. Seeing it is one thing but now they’ve tasted it and they actually believe in it.”
India’s bowlers had also learnt by observing their rivals, Dhoni added. “We’ve been here for four months — the bowling performances in the Tests were both good and bad. Maybe for a long time we couldn’t manage a good performance. But the learning — especially after the triangular series — has been great. We looked at other bowlers, even during the England series. When bowlers honestly tried and said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and it worked in their favour, that’s something that triggered a spark. Hopefully this learning will remain in their mind.”
Brett Lee was asked on Tuesday if this was the fastest Indian bowling attack he had ever seen and he agreed it was definitely “up there”.
Overpowering Pakistan, West Indies, and Bangladesh with pace is one thing; doing it to Australia in Sydney would be something else.
It would be a magnificent statement of power and could lead India to the World Cup.
