The Indian cricket team is currently facing a dearth of quality bowlers. The ongoing matches against West Indies are enough to substantiate this claim. There is no denying the fact that the Indian bowling attack, especially in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah , needs a lot of improvement, but are we judging the budding bowlers correctly? At least the economy rate alone can’t provide the best picture of a bowler’s potential, especially at a time when nearly all pitches and playing conditions are batting-friendly.
In case you didn’t follow the game, you might be surprised by the fact that Mayank ended up leaking 36 runs in his three overs. He couldn’t even bowl his final one as West Indies reached home in 18.3 overs by chasing 250, their highest successful chase in T20I history.
Having said that, we should also admit that poor lines and lengths should be criticised, irrespective of the pitches on offer or the results such deliveries produce. At a time when the crowd walks into the stadium to witness boundaries, match organisers are also making sure that fans do not go back home disappointed. And they do this by preparing tracks conducive to high scoring. After multiple recent changes in the playing rules and the conditions offered for games, one could easily undertand that there is a massive bias towards batting, which is eventually leading the game of cricket towards a huge imbalance between bat and ball. Well, one cannot come to that conclusion easily. But the playing conditions are definitely hampering bowling.
So if there is an even competition, it will be good, and better cricket will be seen,” Gambhir said. After the Ranchi T20I, even India head coach Gautam Gambhir frankly pointed out that there needs to be something in the game for bowlers. “They aren’t foreign bowlers; their careers are also at stake. They also worked hard to sit in this dressing room; it’s not like they didn’t work hard. They have also worked hard. Well, the following statement from Gambhir certainly provides the best answer. They need to improve and find a way to counter this issue.
