The Hindu : Sport : The bowlers need to adapt

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The bowlers need to adapt

S. Dinakar

ESSENTIALLY A SEAMER: These days, Zaheer Khan, who likes to hit the deck, seems to have slowed down a touch in pace. — PHOTO: AFP

Cape Town: What is the right length for the pacemen on the South African pitches? While this can differ from batsman to batsman, and from team to team, there still has to be an area from where the faster men can inflict the maximum damage.

At this time of the year, most South African pitches will offer bounce. And there will be lateral seam movement.

Paceman Andre Nel made an interesting point the other day, when he said the Indians required to bowl a little shorter in South Africa. In other words, they needed to adapt.

The Indians tend to pitch the ball up more to achieve swing in the sub-continental conditions where the surface has little bounce.

Under the circumstances, the Indian bowlers performed a fair job at Kingsmead. Yet, they did not appear threatening.

The right option

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels bowling just short of a good length is the right option during the beginning and the middle stages of an innings in South Africa.

Here, given the fact that the bounce will be accompanied by movement, the batsmen will find it hard to essay the drive. And if the ball is close to the body, they will not have the room to launch into the horizontal bat strokes.

Gavaskar added that, irrespective of the nature of the surface, a fuller length could be more effective in the end overs. "The batsmen find it difficult to manoeuvre the ball past the fielders, even if it is a half volley."

As Gavaskar points out, fuller length and reverse swing will never go out of fashion at `the death.'

But then, in these parts, quite a lot of duels are decided in the first 30 overs of an innings. The Indian innings at Kingsmead died before `the death.'

Mixing it up

When The Hindu caught up with South African captain Graeme Smith soon after his side's thumping victory in the second MTN ODI, he replied that his pacemen were mixing up their lengths according to the batsmen.

"Sachin (Tendulkar) likes to stay a little back, so we bowled fuller to him. We bowled a shorter length to Dhoni and Raina. So it depends," said Smith.

He has the variations in his pace attack. Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis are all `hit the deck' bowlers, men with strong shoulders. They land the ball at just short of a good length. This is also the length that troubles the younger Indians — the most lethal as Nel and Kallis demonstrated at Kingsmead.

Shaun Pollock, at this stage of his career, does not quite have the pace to pursue similar tactics. He relies on his strengths — accuracy, a ramrod straight line around the off-stump, and two-way seam movement.

Langeveldt is a genuine swing bowler of a lively pace. Given his methods, his length is bound to be fuller.

Waiting on the fringes and stepping up the heat on the incumbents is the pacey Dale Steyn, another pacemen whose length, generally, is shorter than fuller.

Drive on the up

Ask Indian coach Greg Chappell and he responds: "Any length that challenges the batsmen to drive on the up is the right length. But a ball shorter of length can be a good variation."

The Indian pace attack makes interesting reading. Munaf Patel relies more on the traditional good length, even if he has lost a bit of pace. In his earlier days, a much quicker Munaf would try to hustle the batsmen with the short stuff. Given that his strength is outswing, Sreesanth is more likely to pitch the ball up. However, he does bring about alterations in length. Zaheer Khan likes to hit the deck — he is essentially a seamer — but has slowed down a touch in pace. At his speed, Irfan Pathan has to eliminate a delivery of shorter length from his thoughts. Ajit Agarkar, is arguably, the most versatile bowler of the pack. He can operate at various lengths and at different stages of the innings.

Better preparation

Even so, the BCCI could have conducted a short camp of seven to ten days at the lively Mohali surface ahead of the South African tour, particularly since a lot of leading cricketers took a break from domestic cricket.

The younger Indian batsmen could have prepared better for the tour. The experience would have also enabled the bowlers bring about adjustments in length.

The legendary Glenn McGrath's preferred length is just short of a good one. When he toured India in 2004, the lanky Aussie wisely adopted a fuller length. McGrath struck vital blows as Australia conquered the Final Frontier.

The message is clear — bowlers, like batsmen, need to adapt.

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