DUBAI: Former India pacer Javagal Srinath reckons that the defending champions need to identify its frontline pace attack, who can take wickets upfront in the World Cup starting February 14 in Australia and New Zealand. Srinath, who is the joint-most successful bowler for India at World Cup events with 44 wickets feels the pacers would play a vital role in India’s title defence. “It is extremely important for India to identify its frontline pace attack. At this time, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a certainty, and given that Ishant (Sharma) is fit, he will be a shoo-in if he can find his line and length. The third seamer is then a toss-up between Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav,” Srinath said in a column for ICC’s website. “Bhuvneshwar will swing the ball, which is his great strength, while the others will get seam movement. What this means is that Bhuvneshwar apart, the others have to bowl just a yard shorter and place the onus on the batsman to play the cut and the pull from that indeterminate, uncomfortable length.
“The faster bowlers have to go for the win. By that, I mean they have to look for wickets up front, not at being economical. Having two new balls per innings is a boon,” added Srinath, the only Indian fast bowler to have taken more than 300 wickets in ODIs.
Srinath, who is currently an ICC match referee, said Indian pacers need to sort out their flaws quickly and hit top rhythm within a fortnight.
“The time for trying things out is almost over. With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 a little over two weeks away now, fine-tuning is the need of the hour and towards this end, the warm-up games immediately before the tournament proper need to be taken very seriously,” he said. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel