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[poondu]

Reaping the rewards of swing

Nottingham: In The Times, London, appeared a cartoon, sketched with economy of line: on the threshold of the Indian dressing room stands a cricketer with a severed head in each hand; an incredulous teammate accosts him with: “ Er most people collect stumps as mementoes.”

No doubt, the joke is on Sreesanth after his beamer to Kevin Pietersen, but, so far on tour, it’s his left-handed colleagues who have resembled bounty hunters most closely.

Between them, Zaheer Khan and R.P. Singh have 25 scalps in two Tests. Every one of England’s top seven batsmen has been scouted, softened, probed, and picked up.

That this is a formidable batting line-up puts the performance in perspective. The most obviously visible cause of the left-armers’ success is swing. Both at Lord’s and here at Trent Bridge, the ball has curled wickedly late for Zaheer and R.P. Singh.

Pleasing act

So pleasing has been the act — so smoothly snug the arc of the swinging ball, so apparently certain its repetition — that the work behind it has gone unnoticed.

Swing bowling is a difficult art requiring high skill. It demands a confluence of conditions, precise wrist positions, and great nerve: each unforgiving, and each apt to unravel very quickly indeed.

To illustrate: Rahul Dravid’s decision to bowl here in the second Test looked fairly straightforward; yet countless captains have discovered to their horror that in similarly damp conditions, wet balls haven’t swung at all.

Certain balls swing; others don’t.

“The Duke ball does swing,” said bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, who himself found success in England. Zaheer pleaded, in jest, for the Duke to be used in all Test-playing nations. Yet, as Ian Botham said, even in a box of balls, there are some that do and some that don’t — even in this era of machine-stitched seams.

The two most outstanding aspects of Zaheer and R.P. Singh have been their ability to swing it both ways from both over and around the wicket, and their scarcely believable control.

Disguise

Disguise is everything. Neither changes his action or slants his wrist noticeably: for the batsmen looking for cues, few, if any, appear. Zaheer, at times, drags his fingers down the inside of the ball for the outswinger to the right-hander, but it’s done so fast, it’s barely detectable.

The least discussed aspect has been their pace. Swing bowlers tend to hold the ball further back in their fingers — Damien Fleming said he rested it in the hollow between the thumb and his first two fingers — to release the ball with back-spin. This controls the seam, keeping it upright, but robs the delivery of pace.

R.P. Singh has hit the high 80s (mph), while Zaheer has been timed in the mid 80s. It’s an exceptional effort to produce swing at this pace. And at this pace — as quick as their English counterparts, incidentally — the batsman has little time to adjust; his already difficult task of playing as forward as possible as late as possible made incalculably harder.

Length is crucial, and it is here that many falter. Swing presupposes a full length; but, a full length permits driving. It’s the classic contest — the drive against the swinger. It makes for enriching viewing, having as it does levels of strategy, skill, bluff, and execution.

Only bowlers of confidence and daring can play at this table; pertinent then that no English bowler, not even Ryan Sidebottom, landed it as full and swung it as much as Zaheer and R.P. Singh.

There are two further elements to their success in the two Tests. Both have used the bouncer well. R.P. Singh surprised Paul Collingwood at Lord’s; Zaheer heckled Michael Vaughan at Trent Bridge, hitting him on the helmet, nudging his ribs. This has kept the batsmen thinking. Even Kevin Pietersen in the second innings here wasn’t stomping as far forward as he normally does.

Using the angle

Both have also used the angle from around the wicket, evoking memories of the mercurial Wasim Akram.

Sometimes the ball has cut in the direction of the swing, augmenting the movement, as in Matt Prior’s dismissal, bowled middle stump from a ball starting well outside off. Other times, it has swung one way and moved the other. Both have been devilishly tough to combat.

Except for the first session at Lord’s and a brief period on the third day, Zaheer has been excellent. R.P. Singh was India’s most consistent bowler in the first Test; in the second, he contented himself with wicket-taking deliveries at critical moments.

“Whatever I’ve seen of R.P., he is a fantastic bowler,” said Prasad. “He is coming up really well along with Zaheer. They do make a terrific bowling combination. They needed someone to show them the direction. That is all I’ve been doing with them.”

[colonel]

There can never be too much of a good thing.

What if we had a fit Nehra with Zaheer and RP?

[inoc]

There can never be too much of a good thing.

What if we had a fit Nehra with Zaheer and RP?

would we be playing a three left armed pace attack. it has happened cant remember when but is not ideal.

PS pathan is in the wings as well.

modified later - we played three left arm seamers in pak 2006. (pathan, ZK, RPS)

[colonel]

There can never be too much of a good thing.

What if we had a fit Nehra with Zaheer and RP?

would we be playing a three left armed pace attack. it has happened cant remember when but is not ideal.

PS pathan is in the wings as well.

modified later - we played three left arm seamers in pak 2006. (pathan, ZK, RPS)

OK then, how about Zahir, Nehra and a fit Balaji. For my money, on sheer ability, these 3 are the best. Unfortunately, the last 2 are early causalties.

[feverpitch]

There can never be too much of a good thing.

What if we had a fit Nehra with Zaheer and RP?

would we be playing a three left armed pace attack. it has happened cant remember when but is not ideal.

PS pathan is in the wings as well.

modified later - we played three left arm seamers in pak 2006. (pathan, ZK, RPS)

OK then, how about Zahir, Nehra and a fit Balaji. For my money, on sheer ability, these 3 are the best. Unfortunately, the last 2 are early causalties.

In that case, the BCCI will need to have the best chemotherapy units on red alert.

[gouravk]

I am just thankful we havent seen anything of Nehra in over 2 years.

[justforkix]

I am just thankful we havent seen anything of Nehra in over 2 years.

THUS Nehra (Tongue Hanging Untucked Shirt Nehra)

[dhruvdeepak]

THUS AMP Nehra (Tongue Hanging Untucked Shirt Absent Minded Professor Nehra)

[toney]

I am just thankful we havent seen anything of Nehra in over 2 years.

You are thankful to whom, yourself?

[colonel]

Nehra looks like a buffoon, but he has the ability to run through the opposite side on a good day. and he swings the ball at a little more pace than RPS, for example.

[ruchir]

Nearly every commentator I have listened to, has said that Nehra's action was diabolical and one that invited injuries. None other than Michael Holding had analyzed it on TV (with stop and play action) to point out exactly why his action was injurious to himself. Alas, that his action could not be corrected in time and he suffered bad injuries in the end. After his injuries healed, if he is having the same action (without remedies) then having him in the team will be fruitless. He will play one series and sit out the next two. I agree, however, that on good days he could a very very potent bowler. His bowling against ENG in WC03 game is a testimony to that.

I am curious about Balaji. I wonder how he is doing after getting better (that is, if he is completely healed). His bowling was awesome too. I remember, he had a lower back stress fracture and had gone to AUS to take care of that. No current news on him after he came back from there.

I can imagine bowling options of lefties -- ZK, IKP, AN, RPS; and righties -- SS, MP, LB, AA, RB(?), VRV(?). If all keep themselves fit and keep themselves in good form, this bowling strength can be one of the most potent in the world.

[avinashgodkhindi]

Ruchir it is very difficult to see AN and LB making intlc omebacks. Remember LB's action was very complicated too, very open chested for a bowler moving the ball away. I think we have to look at ZK, RP, IKP, SS, AA and MP. Hopefuylly someone will solve the mental problems of SS and MP!!! And the action problems of IKP.These 6 are good enof stock

[sudzz]

Ruchir it is very difficult to see AN and LB making intlc omebacks. Remember LB's action was very complicated too, very open chested for a bowler moving the ball away. I think we have to look at ZK, RP, IKP, SS, AA and MP. Hopefuylly someone will solve the mental problems of SS and MP!!! And the action problems of IKP.These 6 are good enof stock

Avinash, this stock is not going to last long...because these guys all have flawed actions and therefore injury prone making for short careers.

But the problem is not that at all, they all seem mentally also not too strong and the stress of being a international bowler might not be something these guys can carry for a long time.