Dearth of Killer Instinct

Dale Steyn’s scorching pace and swing, which grounded a high flying India in the first test with South Africa, has set me thinking. Why India doesn’t have a true fast bowler, who can be called for short bursts by the captain to create a breakthrough when the rivals are going great guns. It is a question that is often asked in the cricket circles. Other than the spin bowlers, the most successful bowler for India has been Kapil Dev, who at best was a fast-medium bowler. Before the advent of Kapil Dev, the job of `fast bowlers’ of India was to roughen the ball for the spinners

By true pace I mean those bowling consistently above 140 km per hour. Take the crop of bowlers who emerged after Kapil like Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Ashis Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, R P Singh, Munaf Patel etc. All of them can hit 140 km and above, but not consistently.

Is it because of the slow nature of pitches in India ? I don’t think so as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangaladesh, which have similar kind of pitches have produced good pace bowlers. Pakistan had Imran Khan, Waqar Yunus, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akthar. Sri Lanka has Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando. Bangaladesh has Shahadat Hossain and Mortaza

Look at the other cricketing nations of the world. All of them have produced a genuine fast bowler over the years. West Indies had a string of fast bowlers in the past. Legends like Wes Hall, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcom Marshall, Joel Garner, Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Even now their cupboard is not empty. Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor may not be as successful as their predecessors, but they are really quick

Australia fast bowling tradition of Lindwall, Miller, Thomson and Lillee is now carried on by Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. Before Steyn, there was Allan Donald for the Proteas. New Zealand has Shane Bond and England has Steve Harmison. True, England hasn’t produced many genuine fast bowlers in the recent times. But they had Larwood, Freddie Truman, Brian Statham, John Snow etc. in the past.

In terms of physique our bowlers are tall and compare favourably with those in other teams. So it is not the reason. Perhaps it is the lack of killer instinct. Does vegetarianism affect the killer instinct? May be or may be not as it has not been proved scientifically. Moreover,majority of the present Indian bowlers may be meat eaters. It could be that from our early years we are constantly advised to be good to people and to curb our aggressive instincts. Some bowlers like Sreesanth do show aggression outside, but it is not reflected in his bowling.

Well this is my thinking. I could be wrong. I invite comments

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