Even Pakistan, which once was thought to have the patent on the sub-continental fast bowler’s assembly line, now casts a covetous glance east, as its own assembly line seems to be sputtering with doping scandals and a dwindling supply of fresh young bowling talent. 

With Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, VRV Singh, the return of Ashish Nehra, and up and comers like Ashok Dinda, plus others on the periphery like Ajit Agarkar, Ranadeb Bose, Laxmipathy Balaji, etc., India's fast bowling cupboard looks well stocked.    

What is now needed, something that John Wright identified early in his term as India Coach, is a bowling coach, preferably a fast bowling expert to guide this bunch of talented but yet rough-around-the-edges group of bowlers.  The BCCI balked at Wright’s request, only giving him a temporary bowling coach during India’s tour Down Under in 2003-04 in the form of Bruce Reid.  The rest is history.  India’s pace bowlers out bowled Australia’s down under, and then also out bowled Pakistan’s vaunted fast bowlers in Pakistan.  When later Venkatesh Prasad was given the job, again temporarily, India out bowled the English fast bowlers in their own backyard. 

I am not sure whether Gary Kirsten has asked BCCI for help with his fast bowlers, but it is a fair bet that he must have at least considered hiring someone like his old teammates Alan Donald, or Fannie DeVilliers, to help him get the most out of his fast bowlers.

India has been playing Test cricket only at home or on the sub-continent this year, and are not scheduled to travel outside the sub-continent till well into the new year, so this issue may not seem very urgent.  But it is during this time, when the spotlight is off, and the media glare is elsewhere, that a skilled fast bowling coach could do some serious work.  India need that to make progress, and go beyond winning isolated Tests overseas, and start to win series overseas.  The inevitable decline of India’s fabled middle order, makes this even more crucial, as India are likely going to have less runs to defend or attack with overseas for a while.

I sincerely hope the BCCI, which is not known for looking much beyond its nose, can for once, do some long-term thinking and try and add some polish to a group of pacers with lots of potential.

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