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PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

PLAYERS OF FAME Javagal Srinath (right) and T.A. Sekar

Fast bowling has always held an aura especially for youngsters who take up cricket. Over the years, in the long history of the sport, fast bowlers have commanded a special place in the sport. Top fast bowlers have established a feared reputation and a stature that is unique.

In most teams, fast bowlers are considered to be the main attackers. There have been a galaxy of famed pacemen who have become legends of the sport beginning from the likes of Fred Spofforth and Jack Gregory to Harold Larwood, Fred Trueman, Frank Tyson, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, and now Bret Lee and Shoaib Akhtar.

Therefore it is but natural that many of the youngsters taking to the game would try to emulate these colourful characters. So it was not a surprise that when the Gatorade Pacers 2008 (a scheme to hunt for talented fast bowlers) was conducted at Hyderabad, a lot of budding young players turned up to try their hand. The scheme aims at providing an opportunity to thousands of players from schools, colleges, sports clubs and academies in seven cities all over India, a chance to show their talent.

The Hyderabad leg was the first phase of the programme. The plan is to select two of the best from each city for specialised training at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under the expert guidance of chief coach T.A. Sekar, who was himself a strapping fast bowler in his heydays, and also the great Dennis Lillee considered by many to be one of the best fast bowlers the game has ever seen.

The selectors in the programme will also be looking at the junior talent already playing in various state teams before finalising the candidates who are to receive training at the MRF foundation.

Another player of fame and stature who is involved with the scheme is former India opening bowler Javagal Srinath. He himself was a trainee of the MRF Foundation in the initial stages of his career and he is now one of the coaches. Srinath feels that Twenty20 form of cricket which is rapidly gaining in popularity now, will require fast bowlers to come up with new skills to counter the all out attack by batsmen that starts from the very first ball.

There is a strong likelihood that opening bowlers may get discouraged by the intensity of the attack unless they are taught new aspects at the grassroots level and the Gatorade scheme would be of great benefit towards attaining this end.

ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA

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