The best bowling attack in the world

The ingredients are intoxicating to say the least. A left-armer who can make both the new as well as old ball talk. Zak has shown a terrific understanding of the use of the angles whenever he comes on to bowl round the wicket to the right-handers. And his phenomenal ability to reverse swing early only means that the batsmen can relax at their own peril. Add to that the tall lanky Ishant who with his nagging accuracy and the ability to extract disconcerting bounce even on the most placid of wickets has made it amply clear that he is a force to reckon with at all times. The pressure exerted by these two is unbearable which forces batsmen to commit errors.

The performance of Hayden and Ponting, the two bulwarks of the Aussie batting line up, against these two is a testimony to this fact and had a massive bearing on the ultimate result in the most recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series. Both these bowlers make it very easy for someone like Bhajji to come and bowl to the new batsmen who have not yet got settled in the crease. Furthermore, we are spoilt for choices too and can pick anyone from Mishra, Munaf, RP Singh and Sreesanth to name a few more.

India has a long and impressive history of producing good batsmen, but sadly we have never had confluence of great bowlers at the same time which explains our poor win record. Agreed , that the quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra, Venkat had their time in the sun, but even they will admit that they could not win as many matches as they would have liked particularly abroad and the presence of a good fast bowler would have definitely helped them.

Kapil Dev shouldered the burden of bowling throughout his career and only K Ghavri and M Prabhakar lent him some support for a brief period of tme. The story was the same with Anl Kumble who ploughed a lone furrow but nevertheless still did a fabulous job as a strike and stock bowler throughout his career. But now I feel that the tide has turned and now we have a bowling Attack that can take 20 wickets in most conditions and on most wickets.

Bowlers are the unsung heroes of this game and it is a misnomer that bowlers will win you only Test matches. Australia has won the last 3 World Cups because their bowlers had pulverized the batsmen into submission. And take the latest ODI between England and India at Bangalore which was a curtailed 22 over match. The magnificent performance of Zak, Munaf and Ishant in the 3 powerplays was decisive. A new dawn is being quietly ushered in Indian Cricket which I feel will be the best in its history.

At the risk of being facetious, you might just be right! India have a strong depth to their bowling attack that will challenge any side on any given day. Importantly, they have bowlers who can suit various conditions, and the emergence of Ishant Sharma is exciting for world cricket, let alone India. RP Singh also looks like he has a lot of talent. I think in a couple of years as the younger bowlers mature, when they hit their peak they will have THE best attack. For me though, I am quite partial to the English bowling attack. At their peak, I think Harmison, Flintoff, Anderson, Jones & Monty are the best team attack in the world. Actually, I think Lee, Clark, Johnson, & Bollinger/Hilfenhaus/Siddle/ or a dozen others is a damn good attack too. Come to think of it, I can't wait to see Morkel & Steyn in Perth!!!

Sri Lanka! what more needs to be said.. With the emergence of Ajantha Mendis, us Lankans potentially have the best spin duo in cricketing history. We only have to go back to the recent India vs. Lanka series, which Indian fans seem to have forgotten after they beat one of the weakest Australian lineups in recent memory, where M&M ran circles around the Indians - "the best players of spin in the world" and threatened to send all the Fab 4 into retirement - atleast this was what the press was saying at the time. If not for Sehwag's double hundred the Indian would have been whitewashed easily! We also got the ever dependable Vaasy and with Malinga, Dilhara and the increasingly impressive Maharoof whose performances seem to be improving by the game, this is a bowling attack for all conditions!

The batting is the issue though particularly in ODIs, but as far as bowling attacks go think this combination is going to trouble every country for the next few years!

The key issue, as was pointed out by Ian Chappell elsewhere on this site, is a good, balanced bowling attack, and in terms of balance, India's is probably the best. Australia and even England, without Monty in the ODIs, lack a decent spinner, and this is necessary for a balanced attack on all pitches, away and home. The test for India will come when they face a crisis - they get shot out for a low score, and Aus/ SAF on home conditions puts up 200/2; what do they do in a crunch situation? Of course, Australia (minus McGrath and Warne)are facing precisely the same situation, and they need to convince all that they can stand up under pressure.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Indian fans/writers/bloggers always seem just one performance away from demanding retirement or knighthood for their players. Its always all or nothing I guess. I feel for the current bowling attack already. One bad series abroad will have the same writers/fans asking for retirements and drafting obituaries of Indian cricket... plz guys relax... and for heaven's sake.. Amit Mishra has had just two tests ... and if someone can see his potential as being world class already, you should be in the Indian selection committee.

The real reason why India are strong now is the fact that they have incredible depth in their bowling. Even if Zak and Ishant went down there are others such as Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Pathan and several others floating around the fringes in domestic leagues that are perfectly capable of giving strong performances. There are also several strong spin options, Piyush Chawla, Praghan Oija are both at least decent and Mohnish Parmar has been mowing down batsmen in the A and domestic levels, although there are questions about his action.
However I still think that India lack the one bowler who is one of the true greats, the type that can trouble the batsmen in all conditions and keep the team in any game. For this reason I think Sri Lanka have the strongest attack as they amazingly have two such bowlers, that also bowl extremely long spells, whereas no other side has even one.

I think Sri Lanka has the best bowling attack these days. Its their batting that is loosing them matches. The addition of Mendis has really made the attack so strong. Murali, Vaas, Mendis, Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and Maharoof must be the best with bowlers like Kulasekara, Malinga Bandara, Thushara to support.
Indians are not far behind with Zaheer, Ishant, Harbajan, Irfan in the team with support from RP, Mishra, Munaf, Chawla. But I do miss Srisanth - he was one of the players who really started India's rise to the top with his aggression.

We would have to measure the potency of a bowling attack over a long period. Of particular importance is the performance away from home.
Let us take into account the last 10 series.
India have lost 3 away series - Sri lanka, Australia & SA.
The current attack appears to be strong with Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan & Amit Mishra at home. Away it is RP Singh, Munaf.
Amit Mishra has done well initially but we would have to wait and see his performance over a period of time.
SA has lost one away series in Sri Lanka and won 8 and drawn one in india. They have beaten england & pakistan away. Also they have a great record at home with wins over india and pakistan.
Dale steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel make a formidable pace attack which is arguably the best in the world. Their test will come up in australia now. Paul Harris is underrated but his injuries have slowed him down.As always the No. 1 ranked team Australia has a good attack with a loss agaisnt india recently.
Aus and SA it is