‘They recognised this years ago’: Ian Bishop says India are at forefront of fast bowling renaissance

India’s pace attack comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have bulldozed past opposing batsmen with their line and length.

The fast bowling unit of Team India has been hailed as one of the best in modern cricket. India’s pace attack comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have bulldozed past opposing batsmen with their line and length. Their consistency in attack has led to India becoming the top side in the World Test Championships while winning Test matches overseas. Team India’s historic dependence on spinners has been reduced with the emergence of premier fast bowlers.

Cricket commentator Ian Bishop before the match.(Action Images via Reuters)

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop also thinks that India recognised the importance of fast bowling several years ago and shifted its priorities to pace in recent times. He even said that Team India is currently at the forefront of fast bowling renaissance.

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“India are at the forefront, the vanguard, of this fast bowling renaissance because they obviously recognised this years ago,” the 52-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator said in Sony Ten’s Pit Stop.

“If you want to be the number one team in the world, you cannot rely on your spinners all the time because when you travel to western countries, spin is apparently only a certain stage of the game, you have to have fast bowling and India have found that.”

Given the rigours of playing three formats, Bishop called for managing the workload of the pacers, especially the leader of the Indian attack Jasprit Bumrah.

“Jasprit is one of a small group of bowlers who transcend the various formats of the game. But you can’t expect him to last if he is playing every game in every format. The human body cannot do that. You have to manage these precious resources because he is a generational talent,” he said.

The Trinidadian believes world cricket is currently going through a golden period of fast bowling with Test number one Pat Cummins leading the way.

“I think we are in a golden period of fast bowling. You look at what the West Indies are bringing, then there is (Mitchell) Starc and (Josh) Hazlewood for Australia along with the number one ranked Test bowler in the world as well (Pat Cummins),” he said.

Bishop feels Barbadian-born English pacer Jofra Archer has the best action among the current generation of fast bowlers.”England have Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to supplement the experience of (Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson. Jofra I think has the best action in world cricket at the moment.

“Pakistan have found at least three young bowlers that are really good. Sri Lanka have one that I can think of, Lahiru Kumara. New Zealand have good quick bowlers as well,” he said.

(with PTI inputs)