dailyO
Sports

Bumrah-Nehra will make T20 thrilling: Batsmen be warned

Advertisement
S Kannan
S KannanFeb 14, 2016 | 10:50

Bumrah-Nehra will make T20 thrilling: Batsmen be warned

Right since the good old days, fast bowlers hunted in pairs. Be it Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, these deadly combos were known to make life miserable for batsmen at the crease.

In the shortest format of cricket that is T20, in India we now have a new combine which is so different in many ways. A few weeks ago if you had mentioned to anyone that young Jasprit Bumrah and old warhorse Ashish Nehra would be opening the attack against Sri Lanka, you would have been laughed at.

Advertisement

As the third T20 match is played in Vizag on Sunday, it will be a chance for the fans to enjoy the thrills and spills of instant cricket. Bumrah has been the new find for Indian cricket since the time he made his debut in the short series in Australia.

You will not find his bowling action anywhere in the coaching manuals, yet he is effective. He bowls a good yorker length and in the T20 format, too, he has been effective. And for all those who feel the Indian Premier League (IPL) does only damage to cricket, there are lessons to be learnt as it has thrown up a new talent.

To expect Bumrah to break into the Test squad may be unreasonable at this point of time but it certainly is fascinating to see him work in tandem with good old Nehra. Ask old timers who have seen Nehra play cricket over the last 15 years, they will talk about how he has been a very smart left arm bowler. His peak was undoubtedly the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where he took six for 23 against England.

Advertisement

After that, Nehra has been an enigmatic bowler. All through his career he has had fitness problems and yet managed himself well. The Delhi pacer was very much part of India's winning campaign in the 2011 ICC World Cup, though he was forced to miss the final, again due to an injury.

After that, Nehra was again in wilderness. It's not clear what happened after the 2011 World Cup, but he was hardly in the mix vis-à-vis Team India. That did not deter him as he kept proving himself in the IPL with various teams.

He knew his fitness levels very well and playing the longer format was out of question. If you were hoping for him to be in the Test side, it was unthinkable.

At best, he can bowl ten overs in an ODI. In the T20 format, he has developed as the master bowler.

He has experience and guile, so important in the T20 internationals, where batsmen are waiting to have a go at the bowlers from the start. It is in such a scenario we have seen in the last two T20 matches against Sri Lanka, Nehra has blossomed as a bowler who can check the flow of runs and also get wickets.

Advertisement

It would not be an exaggeration to state that at a time when so many youngsters have played international T20 cricket for India, Nehra still finds himself as top choice with the national selectors. In the last domestic season, he was not in favour with Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Reasons for it are not clear but obviously given the politics in anything to do with cricket in Delhi, Nehra getting overlooked did not make headlines.

As a rule, the media almost makes a habit of it to be critical of the national selectors. In Nehra's case, they deserve a pat on the back for virtually bringing him out of the cold storage and making him part of the T20 campaign.

One can well read into this as a strategy for the forthcoming ICC World T20 at home where a youngster like Bumrah and seasoned Nehra turn on the heat.

The advantage with Nehra in the twilight of his career is he still has the cunning to come and bowl one over at the death which is such a big plus for skipper MS Dhoni. Then again, Nehra is part of a new team in the IPL this season which proves his worth.

It's quite amazing this story, a young bowler like Bumrah and Nehra leading the attack in T20. Bowlers like Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, S Sreesanth, Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Umesh Yadav and Parvinder Awana have come and gone.

And yet, we have Ashish Nehra, two months short of 37, chipping away with the art of his left arm swing bowling. Fascinating, to say the least.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Last updated: February 14, 2016 | 10:50
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy