Back2015 World Cup: Gone, bowlers, gone
In cricket's search for ever-higher scores, both pacers and spinners have suffered
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When the schedule for the 2015 World Cup was announced, Australian writer Daniel Brettig termed it “a rental World Cup". Brettig noted that five of the seven knockout games in the tournament would be played on drop-in pitches—surfaces curated away from the venue and mechanically dropped into the middle before games. “The game has become a minor tenant in many sporting venues across the two countries," he wrote on the website Espncricinfo, “and it is worth considering the cost of this shift."
Any assessment about the cricket we will see in Australia and New Zealand from mid-February to March must take into account how drop-in surfaces have to a large degree changed the experience of the game in the Pacific. For the romantics (and I include myself among them), Australia was the land of pace and bounce, New Zealand an eternally grey vista of seam and swing. Alas, the liveliness of the wickets that greeted cricket’s community of nations when they last descended there together for the 1992 World Cup is mostly gone.
What this essentially means is that the peculiarity and singular flavour of local conditions—one of the great pleasures of cricket, especially in Australia—is vastly reduced. Do not expect too many of the blistering rising deliveries that kept Sachin Tendulkar perched on his toes all the way to his glorious Perth hundred in 1992. Or surfaces on which facing the West Indian quicks, Damien Martyn recently recalled on air, was to “spend all day on the back foot".
Of course, the bowling conditions will favour pace. But that in itself does not do much to distinguish the two countries from South Africa, England or West Indies, basically every major cricketing nation outside Asia.
I suspect it may not be the Australian or Kiwi conditions, but the changed One Day rules since the last world cup—the introduction of two new balls (one from either end)—that prove to be more of a factor. Two new balls means that teams with a greater array of fast bowlers will prosper, which puts Australia and South Africa at the head of the queue, with England not too far behind. I could easily place my money on either Dale Steyn or Mitchell Johnson emerging as the bowler of the tournament, and perhaps a smaller amount on Stuart Broad or James Anderson.
The other implication of this rule is that the role of the spinners is greatly diminished. Among the major contenders, it is likely to affect last time’s finalists India and Sri Lanka the most, while at the lower end of the scale, Bangladesh will most likely suffer too. Pakistan still churns out fast bowlers at a fair rate, but the other Asian Test nations have all traditionally relied on strangulating by spin.
What does this mean for India? The answer, in short, is that it is mostly bad news. Among all the champions in the tournament’s history, India in 2011 were arguably the side with the weakest bowling attack.
In the league stage of that tournament, India failed to defend 338 against England in the famous tied international in Bengaluru and couldn’t defend 296 against South Africa either. In the final against Sri Lanka, the bowling once again collapsed after a promising start during which Zaheer Khan bowled three consecutive maidens. It was batting that largely carried the team to the title; no side before had chased down a total higher than 271 to win a world cup final.
For a team that is so mediocre while bowling in its own backyard, its predicament in an environment away from its traditional strengths, where it has to rely on pacers rather than spinners, should fill every Indian fan with trepidation.
In 2011, the twin fulcrums of the bowling attack were Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh: The former, the joint highest wicket taker with 21 wickets, was perhaps the standout bowler of the tournament, while the latter, with 15 wickets, superbly filled the role of the fifth bowler.
A quick glance at the 2015 squad is enough to confirm suspicions that the defending champions possess neither a standout wicket-taking seamer nor a suitably competent fifth bowler who is also a reliable batsman rather than just a lower-order slog. In fact, to look at the Indian attack for 2015 is to find it lacking in both experience and promise. Among the pace quartet of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, all (except Shami) have an average above 30, while all (except Kumar) have an economy rate hovering dangerously close to 6 an over. It is an attack inept at taking wickets while proficient in leaking runs.
Stuart Binny, presumably picked to reprise the Yuvraj Singh role of 2011 as the fifth bowler, is unlikely to put fear or doubt in the mind of any opposing batsman. As a batsman, he is nowhere near Singh in his pomp. The worrying and inevitable conclusion is that if India are to succeed in Australia, the batting may have to carry the bowling even more than in 2011.
An attack that has just conceded more than 500 in four consecutive Test matches does not offer much hope of redemption. Expect a game of musical chairs through a tournament where nearly every game sparks talk of a bowling crisis and the replacements repeatedly prove the dictum of the cure being worse than the disease.
The only solace may be that Indian bowlers won’t be the lone miserable souls in a game where truly great bowlers are fast becoming an endangered species. What we are seeing is a global standardization of limited-overs cricket, in which the bat is now permanently lording over the ball. It is a game hostage to the crude commercial logic of its administrators, to whom only huge sixes and ever-higher scores qualify as entertainment, while searing bowling spells and testing batting conditions do not.
Pace vs Spin: How the two types of bowlers have fared in World Cups
Runs per wicket
Strike rates of bowlers
5 bowlers to watch out for
One of New Zealand’s most consistent limited-overs bowlers, McClenaghan rose to prominence in 2012, with four wickets on debut against South Africa. His ability to swing the ball at considerable pace, along with a knack for picking wickets regularly, makes him perfect for Australian and home conditions.
Mitchell Johnson, Australia
One of the most feared bowlers in international cricket, and the leader of Australia’s bowling pack, Johnson’s mix of pace, aggression and intimidation can unsettle the best batsmen.
Dale Steyn, South Africa
Arguably the greatest fast bowler of this generation, Steyn is a batsman’s worst nightmare, regardless of the format he’s playing in. Speed aside, Steyn’s bowling—the run-up, the pace and his skills—make for one of international cricket’s most exciting sights.
James Anderson, England
Since his days of early promise in 2003, Anderson has emerged as one of the most skilful craftsmen of swing bowling. With a rare ability to move the ball both ways, Anderson’s early spells are feared most in international cricket.
Junaid Khan, Pakistan
Known for his consistent lethal yorkers and his ability to swing the ball in, Khan is expected to lead a talented Pakistan bowling attack in Australia-New Zealand.
The World Cup’s best 5 spells
6/23 vs England at Durban, Ashish Nehra (2003)
7/51 vs Australia, Winston Davis (1983)
The West Indian pacer registered the best bowling figures in One Day Internationals when he picked 7 for 51 against Australia at Headingley in the 1983 World Cup. Interestingly, Davis wasn’t in line to be picked for the game and was drafted in half an hour earlier, as Malcolm Marshall was unwell.
4/33 vs Pakistan at Lord’s, Shane Warne (1999)
6/14 vs England at Headingley, Gary Gilmour (1975)
In the semi-final of the inaugural world cup, Australia’s Gilmour bowled 12 overs continuously and wrecked the English batting with a haul of 6 for 14. He also top-scored with the bat, with 28 runs in 28 balls, steering Australia to a four-wicket win.
3/49 vs England at Melbourne, Wasim Akram (1992)
Compiled by Venkat Ananth/Mint; Source Espncricinfo; Photographs from Getty Images
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