In search of next Indian pace spearhead after Zaheer Khan
India hasn’t found a suitable replacement for Zaheer Khan yet
A yorker from a young left-arm pacer rattles the stumps of Steve Waugh, ending with it the last hopes Australia has to make it to the semifinals of the ICC Knockout Trophy. The year is 2000. The bowler – a young and lean boy named Zaheer Khan.
It has been 14 years since then. That young boy has lived up to the promises he showed that day. In this long injury-marred journey, he has made several strong comebacks and carried the mantle of being the Indian pace spearhead since Srinath’s retirement.
As Zaheer dismissed Jacques Kallis in December to grab his 300th wicket, one wondered if he could have achieved a lot more. As his career draws to twilight, there is no one in this country who has taken over the reins from him. In these years, his opening bowling partners have changed faces continuously. And to India’s worries, continue to do so.
The numbers tell the story of India’s woes. Here is a look at the performances of all Indian pacers/medium pacers since Ajit Agarkar’s Test debut.
Bowlers who have represented India in Tests after Ajit Agarkar’s debut (in chronological order of Test debut)
| Bowler | Wickets | Average | Away wickets | Away Average | Home wickets | Home average |
| A Agarkar | 58 | 47.32 | 48 | 44.06 | 10 | 63.00 |
| A Nehra | 44 | 42.40 | 43 | 41.86 | 1 | 66.00 |
| Z Khan | 306 | 32.74 | 202 | 31.13 | 104 | 35.87 |
| Iqbal Siddiqui | 1 | 48.00 | 0 | - | 1 | 48.00 |
| T Yohannan | 5 | 51.20 | 1 | 43.00 | 4 | 53.25 |
| L Balaji | 27 | 37.18 | 12 | 30.75 | 15 | 42.33 |
| I Pathan | 100 | 32.26 | 73 | 25.57 | 27 | 50.33 |
| RP Singh | 40 | 42.05 | 40 | 36.17 | 0 | - |
| S Sreesanth | 87 | 37.59 | 56 | 36.51 | 31 | 39.54 |
| Munaf Patel | 35 | 38.54 | 22 | 41.68 | 13 | 33.23 |
| VRV Singh | 8 | 53.37 | 8 | 53.37 | 0 | - |
| Ishant Sharma | 158 | 37.63 | 96 | 40.32 | 62 | 33.46 |
| A Mithun | 9 | 50.66 | 9 | 50.66 | 0 | - |
| J Unadkat | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - |
| Praveen Kumar | 27 | 25.81 | 27 | 25.81 | 0 | - |
| Umesh Yadav | 32 | 32.50 | 14 | 39.35 | 18 | 27.16 |
| Varun Aaron | 3 | 43.00 | 0 | - | 3 | 43.00 |
| Vinay Kumar | 1 | 73.00 | 1 | 73.00 | 0 | - |
| Bhuv. Kumar | 9 | 37.88 | 0 | - | 9 | 37.88 |
| Md.Shami | 21 | 27.47 | 10 | 39.50 | 11 | 16.54 |
Besides Zaheer, only two fast bowlers (Irfan and Ishant) have crossed the 100 wicket mark in Test matches since Ajit Agarkar’s debut. It only reinstates the fact that Indian pacers have disappeared from the scene after showing initial starry promises.
The worst part is not the lack of wickets, but the ailing averages. Most career averages, including Zaheer’s, are above 30. Only Md. Shami and Praveen Kumar have managed to keep their averages down in late 20s. The former is still in infant stages of his Test career while the latter has had injuries taking a toll on his up-swinging career.
Ishant Sharma might be second highest wicket-taker in this table but his averages tell the real story. He made a fairytale start against the Aussies in 2008 but his away average is more than 40. With the exception of Zaheer, no bowler has managed to achieve both – a good wicket tally and a respectable career average, a combination which is a trademark of a quality Test pacer.
Let us compare these numbers with the leading bowling spearheads of the world.
Pace spearheads who are in top 20 ICC Test Rankings , as of 10th February 2014.
| Team | Pacer | Wickets | Average | ICC Rank |
| Australia | M Johnson | 242 | 28.33 | 9 |
| R Harris | 93 | 21.56 | 3 | |
| P Siddle | 183 | 28.68 | 4 | |
| B Hilfenhaus | 99 | 28.50 | 17 | |
| South Africa | D Steyn | 350 | 22.90 | 2 |
| M Morkel | 183 | 29.91 | 13 | |
| V Philander | 105 | 18.00 | 1 | |
| New Zealand | T Boult | 78 | 26.08 | 7 |
| T Southee | 107 | 30,79 | 10 | |
| West Indies | K Roach | 85 | 27.71 | 16 |
| England | J Anderson | 343 | 30.67 | 15 |
| S Broad | 238 | 30.31 | 10 | |
| Pakistan | Junaid Khan | 56 | 29.07 | 18 |
It is a table that is adorned with the best in the business today. And the best Test teams have plenty of these match-winning pacers. Only India (Rank: 2), Sri Lanka (Rank: 6), Bangladesh (Rank: 10) and Zimbabwe (Rank: 9) don’t have a pacer/medium pacer in top 20 of ICC Test rankings. Australia have four and South Africa three. All of these bowlers in ICC top 20 rankings have an enviable average of under-30, except Anderson, Southee and Broad who have averages marginally above 30.
So, compared to the world standards, India doesn’t have a single bowler under the Test average of 30, except Md. Shami who has played very few matches in a promising start to his career. So, why is the Indian cricket system not churning out pace spearheads? Is the problem starting deep down? Let us further dig into numbers.
Leading Ranji wicket taking pacers/medium pacers in last four seasons
| Season | Bowler | Wickets | Average |
| 2013-14 | Rishi Dhawan | 49 | 20.30 |
| Anureet Singh | 44 | 17.56 | |
| Abhimanyu Mithun | 41 | 24.00 | |
| 2012-13 | Ishwar Pandey | 48 | 21.06 |
| Siddharth Kaul | 44 | 23.79 | |
| Suraj Yadav | 43 | 21.90 | |
| 2011-12 ( Elite) | TP Sudhindra | 40 | 18.70 |
| Ashok Dinda | 37 | 20.64 | |
| Pankaj Singh | 34 | 30.32 | |
| 2010-11 (Elite) | Pankaj Singh | 33 | 19.09 |
| Deepak Chahar | 30 | 19.63 | |
| Suraj Yadav | 23 | 21.39 |
If we do a scan of the right most column of this table, the bowling averages look thin throughout for leading wicket-takers in Ranji. In general, the bowling average of leading Indian pacers/medium pacers roams around 20 in these domestic matches every season.
It is immensely lower when compared to the international Test bowling averages of an Indian pacer, which are above 30 as seen in the above analysis.
It shows the difference in bowling standards which is yet to be bridged between a Ranji and an international game. The stars of the domestic circuits are finding it tough to adjust after their entry into the Test arena. Now, let us look at some of the consistent Ranji performers.
Most aggregate wickets (pacers/medium pacers) in last three Ranji seasons (Elite and Plate combined)
| Bowler | Wickets |
| Rishi Dhawan | 112 |
| Ishwar Pandey | 103 |
| Pankaj Singh | 102 |
| Ashok Dinda | 85 |
| Sandeep Sharma | 83 |
In the last three years, five pacers/medium pacers have consistently wreaked havoc on the batsmen. Out of these, none has made their Test debut for India. Ashok Dinda, though, has had a bunch of opportunities in ODIs.
It is essential that the selectors rope in these consistently in-form pacers to make a wider pool available for the future. Presently, in absence of Zaheer, India has only Shami, Ishant and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to turn to, an attack which looks far from formidable.
It is clear from these Ranji statistics that the averages of Indian bowlers turn worse when they face the sterner challenges of Test cricket. Some of the bowlers who start with a lot of promise, lose their nip (read Irfan Pathan) and others succumb to injuries (read Praveen Kumar) subsequently.
In the end, most young bowlers fall by the wayside. The MRF Pace Academy has been here for years now and has been helping young pacers with their techniques. But the results have not yet reflected at the top-most level. As India looks forward to a long away season in 2014, the onus might fall again on Zaheer’s ageing shoulders.
It is time someone from the young pool puts his hands up and delivers consistently to live up to his promise. It has been a long wait already.
India must hope that the baton Zaheer has with him, doesn’t fall.