Indian bowlers in England

The warmer side of the English summer has seen the Indian team descend at the home of cricket, kick-starting a three-Test series and hoping to defend—or maybe better—the drawn fortunes of 2001-02.

The last two Indian teams that toured England during the summer of 1996 and five seasons ago, return fond memories to batsmen in particular. Captain Rahul Dravid, for instance, amassed a fortune in the drawn series after making an impressive debut along with another success Sourav Ganguly. Sachin Tendulkar, 23 in 1996, was already a veteran in England.

Little has been said, however, of the bowling contributions during those two tours, as well as perhaps of the ones preceding them.

Though of little significance as compared to five-day cricket, experts have, to date, argued for the importance of medium-pacers during India's triumph at the Prudential World Cup in 1983. The 'conditions', in principle, they say, have suited bowlers who translate lateral thinking, to lateral movement.

India's last Test series win on English soil in 1986 indeed featured stellar knocks from Dilip Vengsarkar and teammates. But delve deep into it, and it reveals that bowling (you need 20 wickets to win a Test match) links in that win were also pretty strong. Kapil Dev, along with Roger Binny, both genuine swing bowlers, and the left-arm spin of Maninder Singh, didn't allow the blades of Graham Gooch, David Gower, Mike Gatting et al, to dominate.

The Indian pacers made limited impact during the tour that followed. But in 1996, after the defeat in the first Test, things fell into place in the second and the third. Javagal Srinath was assisted well by newcomer Paras Mhambrey, but it was Venkatesh Prasad who got most purchase from the wickets at Lord's and Trent Bridge. It was neither brute pace, nor banana-like swing that contributed to Prasad's success, but just enough to trouble the batsmen.

Eleven years on, Prasad again travels with the Indian team, albeit in a different capacity. But his job remains tantamount, as he will lend his experience to new faces - S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose.

Spearheading the attack will be Zaheer Khan along with Anil Kumble, the only two bowlers remaining from the 2001 series, who led the Indian attack to great success then.

Banking on Kumble's prowess mainly because of his recent record away from home will assure the Indians of a lot of confidence. And a resurgent Zaheer Khan, back in top billing, will be gunning to make the England top order hop. But if taken man to man, the bowling attacks of both sides, it is the Indian batting order that is poised to face the heat.

Even with Andrew Flintoff injured, England's bowling attack looks potent enough. Steve Harmison seems to have regained his lost appetite after the Ashes debacle in Australia. His raw pace and bounce will be ably assisted by either Matthew Hoggard or Ryan Sidebottom, both exceptional at swinging the new ball.

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