Wishful thinking?

“I have always said we need to find a seam-up bowler who can contribute with the bat because it then gives you the option of playing two spinners,” Dhoni had said after India’s washed-out game against the Australians — a match where they looked on their way to conceding a 300-plus total for the second time running when the skies opened up.

After the opening loss against Pakistan,he had decided to go in with five specialist bowlers,but it was clear he didn’t see that as a long-term solution. “At times,when you play five bowlers and six batsmen,it is a worry because chasing can become a problem,especially in day-night games. In this tournament,we were forced to play five bowlers,even though not all of them could bat,” he said.

Short on quality
Technically,a member of the Champions Trophy squad — Abhishek Nayar — falls in that category,but it is no secret that his bowling isn’t top quality. “Nayar is a batting all-rounder. What we want is a pacer who can even bat up the order if needed,” he said.
The last question at Dhoni’s Champions Trophy exit interview was obvious: Are you missing Irfan Pathan? Indian captains,as a rule,don’t answer direct questions; when it comes to selection matters,their brief seems to be to beat around the bush. So Dhoni spoke about Australia instead,of Shane Watson,Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee,who give Ricky Ponting bowling options and a long batting line-up. “One of the reasons the Australian side is really good is that they can play upto six specialist bowlers,most of whom can bat. If you look at Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee,they can all contribute,” he said. It’s elementary,one might say. Mr (Shane) Watson is worth his weight in gold in modern cricket.
But while one doesn’t need to be Mike Brearley to understand the importance of players who can bowl with and face the new ball,is Dhoni looking for the moon in the largely cloudy sky over the domestic circuit?

few choices
There is a general consensus among those who travel the length and breadth of the country watching the game that pace bowling all-rounders have practically disappeared. Talk to Ranji coaches and they go ‘humming’ after mentioning Irfan Pathan. Mumbai coach Praveen Amre,whose side won the Ranji Trophy last season and is playing the Irani Cup match right now,paints a bleak picture. “It’s very sad that in our country we don’t have a single player who can bowl fast and bat at any position. Forget batting,I think barely 20 per cent of the bowlers in the country qualify to be called medium pacers,” he says.
He confesses that his ward Nayar can,at best,be termed a ‘handy bowler’,nothing more. “He has done pretty well for Mumbai,and has the potential,but he needs to increase his pace.”
Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey,too,gets tongue-tied after mentioning Irfan. “If you are talking in terms of players who have the potential to be genuine all-rounders,such as Jaqcues Kallis,who can bowl at a steady pace and can bat high up the order,there are none. In India,there are mostly batsmen who can bowl a bit,which is fine on the pitches here. But on foreign tracks,a fast-bowling all-rounder is a big asset,” he says.

Times bygone
It wasn’t always like this though. There was a time when the breed had flourished in India,and their extinction makes for an interesting study.
The team of the early 80s had the likes of Kapil Dev,Roger Binny,Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath — all players who could be called genuine,or at least reliable,pace all-rounders. Later in the 90s,there was Manoj Prabhakar,and to a smaller extent perhaps Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh. Since then,there has been a dramatic dip in quality — players such as Ajit Agarkar,Sanjay Bangar and JP Yadav (or even Sourav Ganguly) were around,but at best they were either good with the bat or ball,rarely both.
Then there’s Irfan,who seemed like the real deal for a better part of his first two years on the circuit. However,while he still provides great reassurance to a captain when he walks out to bat,increasingly over the last couple of years,fingers are crossed when he runs in to bowl.

Nurture,not nature
Prabhakar,who opened both the batting and the bowling for India for a long time,gives several reasons for the downswing. “All-rounders are not born,they are made,” he says. “There has to be an eagerness to prove oneself and bat well.”
Prabhakar stresses on the importance of this kind of player in the modern game. “A pace-bowling all-rounder is an absolute must nowadays. Because of the powerplay rules,there’s a need to regularly play three fast bowlers — even on Indian wickets. And if one or two can bat,they can really win you matches,” he says.
“The captain,too,plays an important role. An all-rounder is like a leg-spinner,they need the support of the captain,” he says.
The case of Praveen Kumar seems to be a prime example of a potential all-rounder who lost his way. After Praveen scored a blazing ton for India A,he earned his India blues. A high-profile bat deal meant he enjoyed a reputation of being a big-hitter too. But having batted down the order for all of his international career,he’s been reduced to a bit of a slogger.
In contrast,the Aussies have managed to turn their pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson from an iffy lower-order batsman to a genuine all-rounder with a Test hundred and a Cricketer of the Year award.
Former coach and himself a reliable lower-order batsman,Madan Lal,puts the blame on the lack of effort on the part of coaches to inculcate a batting bent of mind in bowlers. “Nowadays,I hardly see Indian bowlers batting at the nets. At the most,they will hit a few throw-downs at the end of a session.
“One can’t even blame them,because the packed schedules mean practice sessions are an extra load,and every team wants their main batsmen to get batting practice before they wind up.”
The second factor responsible for the dearth of this breed seems to be mixed priorities. “Of late,I have seen a lot of youngsters getting confused about their roles in the team,and their strengths. One has to understand that a bowling all-rounder is selected in the team because of his bowling. So that should be his first priority,batting needs time as well,but it cannot supercede the bowling,” Madan Lal says.
With India playing at home,or in the neighbourhood,over the coming days,the issue is likely to disappear as Dhoni flaunts his part-time turners to fox the visitors — whose fast-bowling all-rounders,in all probability,will find the going tough. It will only be when India travel to a country where the new ball does a bit that they are likely to feel the pinch. And with the Indian domestic market devoid of any real prospects,it wouldn’t be a bad idea to manufacture one.
Either way,the next time the skipper takes off his ‘keeping pads,be less surprised by what follows.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s concerns about lacking a pace all-rounder are understandable considering the sudden spurt of this variety on the international scene. A look at the other teams with pace bowlers who are no bunnies with the bat:

Australia: They are probably the team with most pacers who can bat. Shane Watson can open the innings and be a reliable middle-overs bowler. James Hopes,too,is dependable with both the bat and the ball. With Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee,they make the fab four for Australia.

South Africa: Jacques Kallis is probably the last of the genuine all-rounders in world cricket. Albie Morkel is a proven match-winner with both the bat and the ball,while 20-year-old Wayne Parnell has proven that South Africa won’t have a problem of the India kind in the near future.

England: Luke Wright can open with the bat and can also be expected to take wickets with his 130-plus pace. He has for company Paul Collingwood,who can be a restrictive bowler with his military medium pace. Stuart Broad has the potential of being,if not the next ‘Ian Botham’,then certainly the next ‘Andrew Flintoff’.

New Zealand: New Zealand have traditionally produced all-season cricketers. The present team,too,have many of those in Grant Elliot,James Franklyn,Jacob Oram and Ian Butler

Sri Lanka: The team known to have several part-time spinners now have a few pacers who can be relied on to make runs too. Angelo Mathews,Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara,to name a few.