Sreesanth, Latest Entrant in India’s Hall of Bowlers Gone Slow!!

I thought that it was some sort of off-season injury or some other weird reason that Sreesanth was bowling so slowly during the first of the one-dayers against the South Africans. As it turns out, that wasn’t just a one-time thing. Like many other of his young Indian counterparts, he has actually slowed-up remarkably although there is no injury and neither has he been used excessively. This is some sort of a virus that seems to affect every speedster coming from India who has some promise to offer. Further, it seems that his bowling action too has changed a bit. Sreesanth never really did have remarkable line or length to boast of—it was swing bowling at some good speeds that got him all the wickets and made him a tough customer if the pitch had anything to offer. He even showed signs of being able to use the old ball. Now, he can hardly cross the 130 km/hr barrier and his swing is lacking due the change in the manner in which his is delivering the ball. Yes, the seam is still very upright—one of young Sreesanth’s typical bowling traits, but now the shrug-like movement that he had at the time of releasing the ball has gone and has been replaced by a more controlled sort of stride that may be prettier from a technical aspect but sure as hell doesn’t make him a better or a more lethal bowler.

Can the Indian bowlers deliver even once?

This is what the captain, MS Dhoni must be wondering after yesterday’s loss to Sri Lanka in the second match of the Dhaka Cup. Dhoni has been very vocal about the inability of his bowlers to either contain runs or take wickets. He has often been seen in the press conferences lamenting the fact that there very few occasions wherein the bowlers have won a game on their own. Yes, it is batsmen’s game but then Dhoni cannot be blamed for expecting his bowlers to deliver at least once every ten matches or so. Just take yesterday’s ODI for instance, the total of 280 wasn’t all that bad a score and though dew was an issue, the opening Indian bowlers could have rattled the Lankans by picking up a few early wickets. That is something that hasn’t happened in the last six months for the Indian team and the trend continued yesterday night. As usual, Ashish Nehra leaked runs in his opening spell and Sreesanth reminded us why he cannot be looked upon as a reliant bowler, as he had one of his many average days, yet again. To blame the batsmen for not crossing the 300-run mark is foolish considering that they too should be give some breathing space — if they didn’t hammer the living hell out of the opposition bowlers in one, occasional match, the bowlers should have taken up the responsibility.