Thursday, March 3, 2011

India's bowling has been exposed


Imran Khan said that lack of options in bowling makes India a vulnerable side and it could hurt the team's prospects in the ongoing ICC CWC.

"India's bowling has been exposed against  Bangladesh and I think their biggest problem now is to find a potent  bowling combination to carry them through to the final," Imran said.
He pointed out that the first few matches indicated that even scores of 300 plus could not be defended without a potent attack.
"The way Ireland beat England highlights the need to play at least five regular bowlers and India have struggled to find the right combination. The conditions in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are such that it is always going to be hard- work for bowlers, especially those who don't have pace or can't bring variation into their attack," he said.
Imran said India's greatest strength lies in having a skipper like Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"Dhoni himself is a fearless cricketer but he also has to be aggressive while using his bowlers," he said.
Lasith Malinga's scintillating hat-trick against Kenya didn't escape the legend's eyes. "Bowlers like Malinga, with such an unusual action, Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee will always be dangerous despite the flat surfaces because they are pure pace bowlers." Imran said, following Ireland's stunning win over England, chances of upsets in group B have increased.
"I don't have enough praise for the way Kevin O'Brien batted for his century. He played some of the best cricket shots I have seen in my career. The Irish are a fighting lot and I think they will cause some more upsets," he pointed.
Another former great Wasim Akram felt making predictions about who would win the title has become a difficult job after the first ten days of the tournament.
"One thing is becoming clear that teams need to have potent attack," he said.
"Teams who are insisting on playing part-time bowlers will face problems as the tournament progresses. Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to my mind emerge as strong teams because  they have lots of variety and depth in their attacks. But Pakistan need to play an extra bowler against stronger teams," Akram said.

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