'Lillee behind rise of pacers'

The MRF Pace Academy is synonymous with fast bowling in India and Aussie pace legend Dennis Lillee has been a regular at the centre in Chennai. Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Zaheer Khan are some of the bigger names who have benefited from the elaborate training methods at the academy while Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas, Aussie speedster Brett Lee and New Zealand’s James Franklyn are the others to have made use of the facilities here at some point in their careers.

Cricketnext.com caught up with former India paceman TA Sekhar, the man behind the smooth running of the academy. Sekhar talked in detail about how pace bowlers are being nurtured at the academy, how we can produce more of the ilk and the importance of technique.

Sekhar, who played two Tests and four ODIs for India, also told us why he thought Kapil Dev is an all-time great.

Cricketnext.com: What is the reason for India producing more fast bowlers in the recent past?

TA Sekhar: The system has started working and people are aware of what fast bowling is all about. You go around the country you will see everyone is talking about front-on, side-on and semi-open bowling actions. Youngsters understand the technicalities of fast bowing to a great extent. The growth will be higher with more fast pitches in the country.

India is a land of spinners but today India has got quality fast bowlers. Nowadays, four fast bowlers being part of a squad is common while four spinners in a squad are not seen any more. Nearly 10 fast bowlers from the MRF Pace Foundation have played for India from 1999 to 2007 and many are still in the reckoning.

Cricketnext.com: There were times when India was way behind other countries as far as fast bowling was concerned. What has the role of the MRF Pace Academy been in bringing about the changes?

TA Sekhar: It took nearly 20 years for us to propagate the correct way of fast bowling. In the late 1980s, every one used to say that India could not produce bowlers who could bowl beyond 130 km per hour. But today we have bowlers who touch 140 km per hour.