The former Indian cricketer and an expert commentator Sanjay Manjrekar have opined that despite having capabilities to win the World Cup, the death bowling might prove to be Achilles Heel for Team India. Recently, the bowlers of Team India have been struggling during the death overs of most of the matches.
Manjerkar said “The Achilles heel for India will be their death bowling. I think India can lose an important match purely on the way they bowl in the slog overs, and for that the onus will be on the spinners in the middle overs to take wickets and lessen the pressure in the death overs. For me that is the weakness.”
Manjrekar, who played in the 1992 and 1996 World Cups, despite the death bowling issue still believes India have the team to successfully defend their title. He said “India are the favourites purely because, temperamentally, on the big nights it is the best team in the tournament; maybe on skills it is slightly limited in the bowling department.”
However the most important piece of advice to the Indian pacers, who struggled in recently concluded four test series in Australia, came from former Australia fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz who said “The length is the most important thing. When you got extra bounce, length is so important. We, Australian bowlers, always talk about the ball hitting the top of off-stump. It is the ideal length; in some grounds it will be a bit fuller and on some grounds it will be a bit shorter.”
In the past many of the bowling experts had also emphasized that the Indian pacers should learn to bowl at the right spot in different conditions as relying simply on pace has not proved fruitful. Let us hope that our managers and coach will take notice of this burning problem well in time to ensure that the Team India is able to retain the coveted trophy.