Where are the Bowlers?

You’ve already met my friend Buffy. Of course that is not his real name. I don’t think parents can do this to their children. It was us friends who nicknamed him so. But he doesn’t mind because it reminds him of Beefy – Sir Ian Botham. And, Sir Botham is quite a legend. He was a genuine all-rounder who maintained an intimidating reputation with his bowling throughout his career. Infact there were quite a few gentlemen in his league, some even better than him. I’ve to begin the non-comprehensive list with fast bowlers from West Indies. Do you remember or have you heard of the era when names like Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Ambrose used to inspire fear? They were giants who could make the batsmen look like pygmies.

Then there were charismatic heroes like Imran Khan. On this side of the border we had Kapil Dev who could counter him. The next crop also had its stars. There was Shaun Pollock who inherited brilliance in cricket. Recently there was news that he was being considered for the role of India’s bowling coach. I was hoping that it was true and would materialize. Then, there were Shane Warne and Brett Lee at the helm of Australia’s formidable bowling attack. Shane Warne still exhibits his stuff in IPL and Brett Lee is still around but there is something amiss. They are not the same terror they were once. After Imran Khan there were few more Pundits from Pakistan, of which I’ve watched Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. I wonder if there would be another bowler from Pakistan who would recreate the terror that these two could. Shoaib Akhtar did seem to fit the bill before his career went over the fence.

In India the last precise killer was Anil Kumble. No other bowler in the current lot has been able to maintain such consistency. There are impressive bowlers but there is no one who is consistently fearsome. All of them have had their records punched by free flowing hits. There are bowlers who started off their career with bangs. But be it Muttiah Muralidharan or Ajantha Mendis, they have all been undone.

The breed of fearsome bowlers seems to be nearing its extinction. This decade has been declared as the decade of runs. They say that fans like it when lots of runs are scored. But do people enjoy one-sided games? Doesn’t the contest between bat and ball becoming one such game? In such a scenario how long will cricket boast of glorious uncertainties? If cricket is a batsmen’s game then why are bowlers still playing?

This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash

UPDATE 12th Jan, 2010: Ian Chappell said on Cricinfo’s talk show that India will need a couple of champion bowlers to stay as Test #1