WANTED- A genuine quick fast bowler

WANTED- A genuine quick fast bowler who doesn’t reduces his speed after first couple of years and can take early wickets and produce the lethal reverse swing when the ball is old. Can bowl at least what is asked of even when senior bowlers are not around to guide him and should be vary of the fact that a string of wide and no balls means either you need an eye test or your feet has grown more than 2 inches and hence you need a doctor or a physio.

The first test ended and the result was anticipated, even getting out at 136 on the first morning was expected, especially with the pitch having dampness and overcast conditions making it ideal for late movement off the deck. What was not expected was getting only four South African wickets after conceding 620. And even if you digest the fact that the pitch was pretty placid on day 2 you cannot digest one thing: the ease with which those runs were scored. One thing is for sure and the management must realise fairly quickly that Harbhajan is losing the script day by day and he is a champion bowler who needs some time off and work again in the domestic circles. Let the message be loud and clear that even he can be the one who needs some work at the domestic level. Ishant and Sreesant generally look pedestrian in Zaheer’s absence and they didn’t do their reputation any good over here, as they would be the last couple you will turn to, to contain runs. Hence the script for defeat was written all over the place. Only the vouched batting line up could have done something to manage a draw but that was denied by two factors: two special balls from Steyn that got the wall and the captain out and the fact that VVS LAXMAN contribution was missed dearly. There is one more X factor that India should keep in mind. Sehwag has turned on to be a big X factor and only if he can take more responsibility when team is playing outside India then probably we would never need  a no. six like Raina. I feel Yuvraj is better tackling the bounce than Raina outside India, but having said that Yuvraj seems to be susceptible to getting out at the slips. In fact, India have never found a no. 6 after Ganguly’s retirement.

India would be banking on Zaheer’s return but that would not solve the pertinent problem. I really feel that In Zaheer’s absence Nehra is the one to look out for. The other day I was reading how Irfan Pathan is planning his comeback after back strain and how is he talking about the swing getting back and getting more lethal. India would be hoping to get Irfan of the old as after a long time we had a bowler whose fear made opposition not make pitches favouring swing. One down in a three match test series is something that India is not unfamiliar with hence getting back from here to square the series will do enough to justify the no 1 test rank. All the best to India for the Boxing Day test.