A Kashmiri pace bowler? Abid Nabi has begun his run-up

Former Indian pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad has great hopes from Abid—who has represented J&K U-16— and rates him as one of the most hard-working fast bowlers he has coached. ‘‘He is prepared to learn and is very receptive at 19, when all youngsters want to do is bowl fast. To bowl at the pace that he bowls at 19 is pretty impressive.

He has the nip and the swing to worry the best in the business.’’

Though Prasad would like Abid to play two Ranji seasons, he chooses his words with caution. ‘‘There is a very thin line between playing U-19 and playing the highest level of cricket. Pathan passed the test, maybe Abid could too. He must approach his career as a game of golf—never worry about the end result just focus on what is at hand.’’

Son of a mason, Abid is a genuine right-arm fast bowler who scoffs at the ‘‘medium pacer’’ tag against his name in the data list on the cricket Cricinfo website. ‘‘We can bowl fast too. It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity,’’ he says.

‘‘My father earns just about Rs 2,000 a month and, though he struggled to make ends meet, he always made sure that I got whatever I required for cricket training,’’ he says.

Tipped by his state association to wear the Indian blue in the next year or two, Abid will inspire a new generation of Kashmiris if that indeed happens. M L Nehru, the association’s secretary, believes that Abid is a star performer in the making. ‘‘Right from the first time he bowled in the nets, the coaches marked him as special. He has raw pace, the ability to swing the ball at high speeds and still has the discipline to stick to the basic principles of fast bowling,’’ says Nehru.

If rookie Munaf Patel flattered to deceive last season, Abid shows more than mere promise and believes that he can fire at speeds touching 140 kmph consistently.

Though he has not been clocked yet, Abid says that fast bowling legend Dennis Lillee told him this February that with a slight change in his action, Abid was headed for bigger things.

Lillee pointed out to Abid that the left shoulder dropped as he approached the wicket which resulted in loss of pace and nip.

Prasad reduced his run-up from 35 to 29 paces at the NCA camp in June where he bowled to the likes of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

In a practice match against the India A team which was due to tour Kenya, Abid picked up the wickets of Gautam Gambhir, JP Yadav and S Sriram. ‘‘I would have had Rohan (Gavaskar) also but his catch was dropped at point,’’ adds Abid with the enthusiasm of a child eager to impress.

Abid decided to bowl fast after he saw Pakistan speedster Waqar Younis bowl in the 1996 world cup. ‘‘Even though he got hit by (Ajay) Jadeja for sixes I just loved the way he ran in to bowl every ball as fast as he could. I knew that minute (aged 11) that I wanted to bowl fast,’’ he says.

Ask him about his idol and snap comes the answer, ‘‘Wasim Akram, he is the greatest fast bowler.’’