Chennai: With India on the cusp of a historic Test series win in Australia, former India captain Kapil Dev is mightily impressed with India’s fast bowling attack that played a big role in the team’s good performance Down Under.
Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of Tamilnadu’s first robotic knee replacement institute at SIMS hospital, India’s first World Cup-winning captain said, “The pace bowling is fantastic. I think in the last 50 years, no other team has done so well in pace bowling than the Indian team. It’s unbelievable.”
The Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma has outperformed the Australian fast bowlers in the ongoing series. Asked about the reason for this, Kapil said, “If good fast bowlers come as a group, it becomes very hard for the batsmen to handle. During my playing days, the batsmen didn’t have time to relax when they faced the West Indies fast bowlers. When there is only one good bowler the opposition would relax, if every bowler comes hard, it tests the temperament of the batsmen. Now, that is what is happening with the current Indian bowlers.”
Kapil also attributed the success of the Indian fast bowlers to the last 20 years of effort. “With an Indian fast bowler coming hard against the batsmen abroad and playing well, it’s good to have a change of culture. We have never seen this culture before, this is the result of the last 20 years of hard work,” he said.
On captain Virat Kohli’s aggression, which received flak from many former cricketers recently, Kapil said. “Every leader will come out with his own thinking. As long as he is performing well on the field and giving good results it’s fine. You can’t expect two people to be the same. I judge him based on his performance on the field,” he said.