It's been more than three years since India entered their fast-bowling transition phase. Naman Agarwal explains why they could be in for a longer period of struggle before lasting success arrives.
The listlessness of India’s quicks barring Bumrah at Headingley painted a frustratingly familiar picture, one that had started to fade into the background during the peak years of Virat Kohli’s Test captaincy: countries and climates supposed to favour fast bowling instead becoming the hot seat of leather hunts for Indian seamers.
Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Shardul Thakur combined to average 53 and leaked 5.2 runs per over in Leeds as India threw away multiple positions of strength.
It wasn’t a one-off.
Since the start of the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, Indian seamers have bowled spells conceding more than five runs per over 14 times in away Tests. Fast bowlers from no other team have done so on more than 10 occasions.
Unfortunately, this story of lack of control and over-dependence on Bumrah has no end to it in sight. India are firmly in the middle of a fast-bowling transition, a period they started to enter after the departure of Ishant Sharma in late 2021, and might need a few more years before the curve bottoms out and begins its upward climb again.
The slower rate of growth of Indian fast bowlers
In Indian cricket, batters and spinners mature relatively quickly, transitioning from prodigies to professionals with ease. The same can’t be said for fast bowlers. India have never really had to go through long – or even short – periods of tough batting or spin-bowling transitions. Virat Kohli scored a hundred at No.4 in the first Test India played after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. When Kohli walked away, Shubman Gill did the same. After Kumble and Harbhajan, India got Ashwin and Jadeja. Now that Ashwin is gone and Jadeja seems to be on his last legs, they have Kuldeep, Axar, and Washington Sundar.
Indian fast bowlers on the other hand, have always needed a lot more opportunities to fail in order to eventually succeed. Particularly away from home, where opposition batters are used to the conditions and Indian bowlers are not.
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Ishant Sharma averaged 57.92 from his first 19 ‘SENA’ Tests. In the 22 Tests he played there since, he took 88 wickets at 26.81 apiece. In his first cycle of SENA Tests between 2013 and 15, Mohammed Shami took just one five-for and averaged 42.13 from 10 matches. From his next 24 SENA Tests, he took 87 wickets at 29.05. Zaheer Khan went wicketless in his first SENA Test – in South Africa in 2001/02 – and took only 11 from his first four Tests in England at 43.9 apiece. His next four Tests in England saw him pick up 20 wickets at 19.20 and his next seven in South Africa saw him take 30 at 32.
Failure has, quite literally, been the first step towards success for Indian quicks abroad (Bumrah, of course, is not to be counted among mere mortals). There’s nothing to suggest that this pattern is going to break now.
During the previous Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Bumrah spelled out what to expect from the current batch of Indian seamers in a poignant yet simple manner: “Obviously, as a bowling unit, as I said, we are in transition, so it's my job to help the others. I have played a little more than them, so I am trying to help them. But again, everyone will learn through it, will get better and eventually will find different ways. So this is the journey that you'll have to go through.”
Also read: The Bumrah experience: What it's like facing the world's best bowler
Problem of plenty?
Already more than three years in, this particular period of transition also has the potential to go on for longer than usual, because unlike the transitions of the past, India have more options to choose from.
Since the start of the 2023-25 WTC cycle, India have fielded nine fast bowlers. Bumrah (16) and Mohammed Siraj (18) aside, none has played more than seven Tests. There are also few who are yet to make their debuts but are being looked at as exciting prospects. One of them – Arshdeep Singh – is already in the current Test squad, while there have been widespread calls to include the other – Anshul Kamboj.
Prasidh Krishna, playing only his fourth Test match, conceded 220 runs at 6.28 runs per over at Headingley, and may end up getting benched for Akash Deep. Mukesh Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat have already been dispensed with after three and two matches respectively.
While on one hand this shows that more and more talented fast bowlers are coming through the ranks, perhaps as a result of the fast-bowling culture established in the late 2010s under Kohli, it also means there is naturally lesser patience in dealing with them. One bad game, the knives are out. Two bad games, you might never play Test cricket again.
The likes of Ishant, Shami, Zaheer, and Umesh Yadav did not have this sort of competition. The selectors had no choice but to back their potential until it matured into performance. The current setup doesn’t have that luxury. For perhaps the first time, a problem of plenty is an actual problem and not a blessing in disguise.
Need for patience and planning
Bumrah won’t be around forever, and will miss games even when he is. Siraj, the second-in-charge of the Indian fast-bowling setup, has already been to at least two tours to Australia, England, and South Africa, and should be expected to level up going forward. But building the rest of the attack will take time. This is where long-term vision and clarity of thought from the new leadership group with Shubman Gill at the helm will come in.
Also read: India's Test tail is the worst in world cricket, but they can do little about it
Prasidh arguably has the best raw materials among the new set of seamers: height, pace, and the ability to swing the ball. He will need backing, sometimes even irrationally. Harshit Rana is strong and well-built, and is perhaps the best hit-the-deck bowler among the lot. He already seems to be a favourite of current head coach Gautam Gambhir, and will need exposure to improve. Akash brings accuracy and Arshdeep the left-arm angle.
Gill and Gambhir will need to place their bets on who they believe can reach the level of, or even outdo the recently bygone golden era of Indian fast bowling. And they will have to go all in while keeping their expectations realistic.
The bar for fast bowlers in India has never been higher, but if the past is any guide, it’s the ones allowed to trip and stumble who have eventually learnt to sprint.
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