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There are youngsters willing to become fast bowlers, willing to put in the hard work, knowing that they won't come across many seamer-friendly tracks in India. Baroda, the team I am coaching now, have seen Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Rakesh Patel in recent times. And there are more youngsters into fast bowling. It is good to see that because it was missing a few years back.

The fast bowler's workload has increased by about 50 per cent from about 10 years ago. It can be attributed to two factors, one of which is the change in the nature of wickets. You have got to make pitches that encourage the fast bowlers. Not only at the top but at the grassroots level. As a youngster, you should get an opportunity to bowl on at least some seamer-friendly wickets, so that you are attracted towards fast bowling.

The other reason is the exposure nowadays. Fast bowlers are everywhere now, and they are an appealing sight. We have bowlers like Zaheer and Sreesanth, characters that inspire. I wouldn't say fast-bowling is glamorous but it appeals to those who are willing to do a lot of hard work.

Added to that is the extent of technical awareness, which has completely transformed the art. The biomechanics have become very sound, there are more people who are aware of the techniques. Earlier, there used to be very few people who knew what fast bowling was, what biomechanical structure you needed to be a good fast bowler.

Things have developed a lot: the youngsters now know what in-season training is and what off-season training is, what is the exact muscle that they need to work on. The result: we see a lot of fast bowlers in domestic cricket and even at the grassroots level.

There is one matter of concern, though: we have very few tearaway bowlers outside the Indian team. To get the really fast bowlers, we need to work with the talent at a very young age. I have often seen coaches emphasising line and length more than the quality. Somewhere down the road we lose out on bowlers with sheer pace because of that.

If a kid has the talent but is wayward, that can be worked on. At a young age, the emphasis should be on the talent and the pace and not technique, which can be groomed. I have seen at university selections, in Under-17 trials, even in my playing days, that a genuinely quick bowler who is erratic at the nets would lose out to the other guy who bowls six balls on a good line and length.

That apart, fast bowling is in much better health since the time I retired. The three-one combination that most of the teams go in with is here to stay. The major difference is the awareness and, unlike the earlier days, we are not losing out on many prospective bowlers.

It is a genuine matter of concern that despite having many seamers around in the domestic level, there are very few of them, whom you call the "tearaway" fast bowlers- who can consistently bowl at 145kph or more. It's one of the major difference between India and other world class teams like Australia, New Zealand, SouthAfrica and Pakistan. You have people like Brett Lee, Shoiab Akhtar, Shane Bond, Makhaya Ntini who bowl consistently around the 145 mark. I think we are lacking in that aspect.

When you have three seamers in your line-up, you need at least one of them in that three who can bowl really fast. It helps you a lot on batting wickets (in subcontinent); when you are in need of a breakthrough, that extra pace sometimes does the trick. And as you said, these type of fast bowlers should be groomed right from the young age. You cannot make a bowler increase his speed after he comes into the team. It was what happened with Irfan Pathan. He was asked to bowl faster which he is not used to and eventually ended up losing his rhythm and his place in the side too.

With improved techniques and facilities available, I think it's time we found fast bowlers who are express fast and who can create an impact with that extra speed.

It was fascinating to read Paras statement that “I have seen at university selections, in Under-17 trials, even in my playing days that a genuinely quick bowler who is erratic at the nets would lose out to the other guy who bowls six balls on a good line and length.” What Paras did not mention that even if you are genuinely quick and accurate the chances of you being selected depend on who you know in the establishment. It all boil downs to do you have cuttings in the newspaper, do you play for a club, who is your coach etc. And I am not saying this because I like saying it. I am saying it because I have experienced it first hand.

I do not believe that India cannot produce quick bowlers we have dime a plenty we only have to search. Getaway from the mentality that players can be only unearthed if they are playing leather tournaments. Growing up playing with the tennis ball and then graduating to play with leather I have seen real talented players, young guys who were really quick and also guys who could bat like a dream. For e.g. I knew of a guy who was a left handed batsman who could hit a six every time he reverse sweeped, Who could bowl left arm fast and left arm spin and china men, who could keep wickets, who was an excellent fielder be it slip or in the outfield (he would put to shame even some of the best fielders this lovely game has produced) and running between the wickets havent seen anyone who could be as good as him. This is just one person that I had the privilege to play with growing up I really do not know how many thousands of such guys we may have in India. Most of they will never n get an opportunity to play because of family pressures and affordability and the reasons outlined in my first Para. My point is we need to look beyond all and outside the box.

This is not a gripe nor is it a case of sour grapes. I want India to be the best and it gives me, just as it does for everyone, when India wins. What I mentioned above is not only applicable to cricket to all the sports in India. Get away from the culture of favouritism, political manoeuvring, connections and give merit the opportunity and we will have a world class team ready in every sport that we will be proud of.

Mr.indianinus,

I completely agree with your views on the selection criteria at grassroot levels. And I've experienced it first hand too(although I wasnt at the receiving end to be honest). Being a hyderabadi, I know the state of affairs of the hyderabad ranji side and it was no surprise to me that half the side left to join ICL. They had no other option but to change sides. I believe that there are some really classy players in the city who miss out owing to board politics. The national selectors I think are a lot more fair because they're always in the limelight. Any error from them will be caught redhanded. But nobody gives a damn about a state side's selection process, and the state selectors take full advantage of that. As with all other indian cricket issues, the selection process needs to be sorted out at the base level first.

Good article Paras. It really sounds good but as said first we have to come out of the square. Fast bowler should be encouraged to ball really fast by the selector and coach. The selection pattern should change for fast bowler. I am sure that we will have more Brett Lee and Shoib Akthar in team INDIA in future. I would like to add one more point that youngster should be taken to Tour like Austrialia, NewZealand, England and South Africa. So that our young fast bowlers get addapted to the condition and when they play in international level they feel more confident, take more wickets and win more matchs for India in future. It will Help our young Batsman too, because they will also come to know how to play against really good fast bowling attack.

Lets not forget arguably India's fastest bowler - Javagal Srinath whom more than once was timed at 149.6km. Also which indian fast bowler has injured/hit more opposing batsmen than Srinath? - Anyone remember Merrick Pringle of South Africa - he was at the receiving end of a Srinath bouncer in 1992 with devastating consequences. Sreesanth needs to temper his aggression and maintain a strong physique - he will surely increase his pace to be consistently above 145km. VRV Singh has the attributes but maybe needs to work on his final delivery. Ishant Sharma should be the next "big thing" in fast bowling for India providing he listens to the Physio and builds a strong body - essential for genuine fast bowling.

As Paras rightly points out, its not about the talent. The taltent is obviously there! Its the attitude that needs an overhaul. Clearly the "line and length" bandwagon is too large and needs to be dealt with. What's disturbing is that every fast bowler starts out bowling pretty brisk and in a couple of seasons, they end up being military medium. A case in point is Pathan: Remember the bowler who bowled those swinging yorkers to Steve Waugh and Gilchrist back in '03? Well, the same Pathan was bowling with Dhoni standing up to the stumps in the current series. It has nothing to do with age in his case, but somehow out-and-out pace seems to be discouraged and that is a really bad trend. Ditto with Munaf and to a certain extent Zaheer (though he more than makes up with it with his variation now).

I think there are people who refuse to believe that sheer pace is indeed useful. I think the change in mindset is what we need, more than anything else.

It was interesting reading about bio-mechanics. But the importance of understanding fast bowling concepts also comes from the basic knowledge on body types. All body are genetically pre-determined and run in families.

The three main body types, established by American psychologist William H. Sheldon in the 1940s, are ectomorphs, endomorphs and mesomorphs. Endomorphs are the opposite of ectomorphs tend to be heavier than people in the other two categories. Their bone structures helps them accummulate fat and
muscle. The can posses the strength to generate the pace. They have broad shoulders and palms and
a person with an average build cannot have the ability and strength to generate pace. They will
usually breakdown and cannot be frontline tearaway
fast bowlers. Bowlers like Agarkar, Irfan, Azhar
Mahmood and Mohammed Sami have an average build
hence as a result they are more suitable to become
all-rounders instead of front-line genuine quicks.

Mesomorphs, the third group, retain calcium better, that helps build stronger bones and thicker muscle mass. The are reffered to as LAMBU
in Indian circles. They have a delicate bone
structure, meant to be tall and lanky and are not
suppose to generate genuine pace. If they do they
tend to breakdown. Examples are Nehra, Mcgrath,
Joel Garner and all other tall and lanky ones.

The short and stocky ones are the ones who can
generate genuine pace and they need to identified
at a younger age.

Nikhil

Ectomorphs stay slim, in part, because of their higher metabolic rates. They have a hard time packing on weight and must follow precise workout regimens if they wish to add significant muscle.

The short and stocky ones are the ones who can
generate genuine pace and they need to identified
at a younger age.

Nikhil

Ectomorphs stay slim, in part, because of their higher metabolic rates. They have a hard time packing on weight and must follow precise workout regimens if they wish to add significant muscle.

Hey, I totally agree with Paras's comments. There is so much politics even the middle school level like children from 8-13 in selection process and diverting an individual from his natural talent to something the coach wants and not grooming natural talent and then polishing them in to a real gem a la Imran khan how he used to spot raw talent and let them built on their natural talent they possess in likes of wasim akram,waqar,aqib, shoib etc, which is not happening in India and more over as someone has rightly commented it does not matter what you know and what you can do, what matters most is who you know, many a good talent has been lost into oblivion due to this mentality. This is coming from my own personal experience, I was a well built atheletic guy who use to bowl pace (a decent one when i was 10/11). At school I was forced to bowl off spin modelling on Venkat's action and as when needed they used to ask me to open the bowling which was really difficult just to accomodate someone who does not even hold the ball with upright seam and who had such a clout that he represented India in a couple of one-dayers. The other biggest example to waste talent is the current MRF pace academy coach T.A.Shekhar, with whom I started my club career in Madras, he was the answer to a real fast bowler for India, but he was sidelined for a better part of his early days just to protect someone up there and finally when he was chosen to represent India, it was against Pakistan and at the age of 29 when almost the fast bowler is beginning to decline. Good work Paras.

What's amazing about our Indian cricket team is that we have a LOT of different coaches now, but we miss one big ingredient that is available on most football(American), baseball and basketball teams. That is a Strength and conditioning coach. We need someone who can focus them towards stronger bodies with more muscle and less fat with a protein rich diet. Do that and get back to me wiht a new genuine fast bowler every 3 months. And Mr Iliyas thanks for contributing nothing to this conversation, now why dont you go back to your Karachi Madrasa and try stopping them from causing a political upheaval. You have more important things to do than cricket.

Good observations Paras. The change of mind sets of selectors and the viewing public towards fast bowling is very heartening. I remember when we played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy together (about 15 years back) selecting 3 fast bowlers for any domestic side or the Indian side for that matter was a luxury.Thats the reason Javagal Srinath who was the fastest bowler in the country spent his paciest years warming the benches while Kapil and Manoj Prabhakar shared the new ball.
Today we see most domestic and International sides playing with 3 or even more pacers.
The emergence of fast bowling in India has also to an extent co incided with the paucity of good spinners on the domestic platform.
Young pacers today have atleast 5-6 role models in the Indian side who all bowl above 140 Km/hr.
Finally I believe every quickie has 2-3 years when he is bowling at his fastest...after which there is a quick decline in pace and motivation levels if he is not groomed...Pick the lad at this stage....In the corporate world we say " Hire for attitude and train for skills"...I can extend it to the cricket field and say " Select for pace and train for skills"....Cheers

As expected you find deriding Indians on their veggie diet and relating it to lack of fast bowlers. This BS. Lets look into the animal world - the best athletes and strongest of animals are herbivores..imagine the bulk and strength of an elephant, the speed and agility of horses and sheer strength of huge animals like bulls, buffalos, rhinos - the list could go on. The point is diet can be broken down and the strength contributors identified & extracted from the traditional diet. Today, veggie diet is the most recommended- supplemented with some fish the diet is ideal. Meat based diets are less & less getting out of fashion. SO go India and let the naysayers drown !

The role models play significant contribution in motivating the youngsters whether to become a fast bowler or a good batsman. If you look at Pakistan they are doubtless Lords of the fast bowling in Asia. There were the legends like Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Waseem Akram, Waqar Younis etc. However India has always produced technically good batsmen like Gawaskar, Sachin, Dravid etc. As a Pakistani I know that everyone in Pakistan, wants to become Imran Khan, or waseem akram or waqar younis. I never saw much of people wanted to become either like Javeed Miandad or Zaheer Abas or Inzi. You can see we have currently a number of fast bowlers but we are seriously lacking in having good batsman. But India has a pool of very good batsmen but are lacking in quality fast bowlers. In fact when Irfan Pathan came into Indian side, I thought he has potential to become a good bowler but unfortunately he was unable to maintain his standards.
So it’s more about motivation.

Eons after his debut at Cochin, Ajith Agarkar is still built in the mold of a budding fast bowler with immense potential. If one were to pause briefly and take stock of his life, it would soon be evident that he never added an ounce of muscle on to that emaciated body. If he had done 100 push-ups a day for two years all those years ago and combined that with a healthy diet high in protein, his chest would have puffed out considerably; with a better body he would have been a better bowler. Alas, he must have been relishing vada-pavs and pani puris, which are just empty carbs, all these years. Nowadays, he looks more like a malnourished village boy that the man-eating lion wouldn't bother going after, than a front line international fast bowler. The NCA should appoint a committee to find out what he eats and encourage all young fast bowlers in their care to stay away from such a diet. His is a mistake that many can learn from.

Its the speed recorded as when the ball is released from the hand/wrist of the bowler and not when the ball has reached the bat.Now just let Sreesanth have his accolades. Surely someday an Indian will break the 150 barrier, no doubt it, its just a matter of time. Please do remember that India was the last of the Test teams to record a 300 plus score in ODIs. Our rookies out there don't have any role model like our neighbours do or more so a Godfather like Imran who are known for backing up guys with fire in their bellies.. What we need now is an " MRF raw pace foundation" And instead of Dennis Lille, bring in Jeff Thompson or Waqar Younis, somebody from the yesteryears or the West Indies. A little more red meat and a proper fitness coach is all that is required

BCCI should reach out to villages of India, that is where the real pace is. I have seen genetically gifted and physically strong lads bowling at real pace in villages of Tamil Nadu. BCCI should ensure they start their search from the remote villages of all states in India, not in paper, but in real. I have seen Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad bowling together in Pachayappa's ground in Chennai on a matting wicket before they made their Test debut. It was fascinating to see the balls constantly looking for batsman's throat.Wish we can find at least two more Srinaths. Sreesanth sure does have pace. People from Kerala are naturally athletic and he is one such. Sure he will cross the 150km/h mark soon, because he never holds him back and it looks he has a mind of his own, irrespective of what the coaches says. Going by the development of cricket in India, it may not take long, say 3-5 years, before a Brett Lee appears from nowhere.

Nice article Paras!

I read an interview with Prasad recently where he said that our fast bowlers are different because their strengths are different. Our bowlers may not bowl over 150 kph, but can still sustain speeds of over 140 kph, and in Sreesanth's case, over 145 kph. We don't have bowlers who bang it in or try to hit the deck, our bowlers tend to release the ball, allowing it to swing more. In fact Prasad thinks ours is the only bowling attack in the current scheme of things which can swing the ball consistently and at pace (I think that's a little wrong, because Pakistan also have bowlers who bowl fast and swing the ball). But if you want to succeed on pitches where the ball doesn't swing much, like in Australia, you've got to know how to bowl just short-of-a-length or good length and try to hit the top of off stump, as they say. It is a skill of a fast bowler to be able to control his length according to the conditions, and the greats always had this skill. Our new breed of quicks have a lot of talent and they should be nurtured and given time to develop these skills. They shouldn't be over-coached or over-analysed, they should just be told to bowl naturally...they'll pick up the street-smartness by themselves.

If somenone is talking about fast bowling and producing fast bowlers in India, then i take nothing away from india because they have all the talent in the world to produce 150/kmph bowlers. Just take a look at your neighbour countries like Pakistan and Srilanka. Both currently have fast bowlers with the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and still are producing fast bowlers. Probably Pakistan is ahead in the chase with three fast bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami and now Umar Gul who is now the latest in the fast bowling list who can bowl regularly at 147/kmph. It's been a tradition in Pakistan that they keep on producing legendary fast bowlers like Sir Imran Khan,Wasim Akram, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Fazal Mehmood, Waqar Younis and the list goes on and on. They have many legendary fast bowlers whereas India have only one who is out of the game long time ago and since he was gone India failed to produce a good fast bowler. Take a look around the world the likes of Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shaun Tait, Lasith Malinga, Umar Gul and Dilahara Fernando. So almost every country has a fast bowler who is capable of regularly bowl at 147/kmph except India and they never produced one. So I don't believe that they can produce a fast bowler in India and they should do it soon. A fast bowler is a trump card today for any team. Whenever an extra bit is required the captain turns to the bowler who can bowl at 147/kmph mark .If India does have an excuse that they could not produce fast bowlers because of turning pitches and that's why we produced the likes of Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and not Shoaib, Wasim or Brett Lee, so I'm sorry to say that because in Pakistan there are wickets that help the faster bowlers and yet we produced world class spinners like Abdul Qadir who was believed to be the best leg spinner in the game, ever better than Shane Warne and many more examples like Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Tauseef Ahmed, Danish Kaneria and many more. So there's no excuse. They should produce fast bowlers who can bowl regularly at 150/kmph. India can certainly not rely on RP Singh and Shantakhumaran Sreeshanth to bowl regularly at 146/kmph because they can't and if they do they will end up self destructing their careers like Irfan Pathan. So they need to produce a fast bowler from the grass root level. Groom him as a young fast bowler. Prepare his mind like a fast bowler, then only they can have a fearsome fast bowler who can be the next Shoaib or Lee.

After reading Paras's comments on fast bowlers, I would like to ask Paras a few questions:
1. Why do we find most of the fast bowlers breaking down regularly? Do you think too much emphasis is laid on fitness now a days?? As having played first class cricket, I have seen Paras, Salil, Abey and Dodda Ganesh from close quarters. They did their fitness fine but they used to bowl quite a lot during the season. They have played a lot of cricket without being injured regularly. Paras, do you think young fast bowlers should concentrate on bowling more rather than spending time in the gyms?