Pace revolution needs a bit of rotation

Finally, the pantomime called the Zaheer Khan Fitness Test is over, and the good news is that Andrew Leipus is talking about a new programme...

Finally, the pantomime called the Zaheer Khan Fitness Test is over, and the good news is that Andrew Leipus is talking about a new programme to monitor players’ conditions. But perhaps it’s time for his bosses, John Wright and the suits at the BCCI, to look at another kind of plan: an annual rotation policy for fast bowlers, keeping in mind the long list of tournaments India are usually faced with.

Because at the rate bowlers like Irfan and Balaji are currently being used, they will be out of steam come the crucial two home Test series against Australia and South Africa. One solution, now viable given the strength in numbers of the bowling attack, could be to rest players for entire tournaments. That’s what the top football clubs, those with squad depth, do to keep their stars fresh over the gruelling 9-month season.

It’s a simple equation: India have five first-pick fast bowlers. Instead of lugging all five around to every tournament, take two to the Asia Cup with a couple from the ‘B’ list, two others to the tri-series in Holland, shuffle them again for the NatWest series in England before bringing all of them together for the ICC Champions trophy. That way you have them fresh the year round — and especially towards the end of what could be a long, crucial season.

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That’s what the Australians will be doing, prompted by a study report in the British Journal of Sports Medicine which says fast bowlers significantly increase their risk of injury when they bowl more than 20-30 overs a week. The graphic shows just how wrong team India is going: Zaheer’s and Nehra’s injuries are easily understandable, Irfan’s surely lurking round the corner.

Earlier this year, if you remember, the Aussie pacers went on collective medical leave during the series against India. Cricket Australia smelt trouble and took a serious look at the BJSM study, conducted between 1998 and 2003 with Australia’s Test, ODI and inter-state games as the premise.

The Australian players’ union chief Tim May called the CA to ‘‘track the study’’, which it did, and acted on it too: a tri-series in Sharjah was cancelled, to begin with, and there are reports of an extended rotational policy being effected on the tour of India.

Can their hosts match them in that area? Doubtful, because Indian cricket lacks professionalism and long-term vision — and is also hostage, unlike other cricket boards, to market forces that go a long way to determine who plays when. So it looks like Irfan Pathan, all of 20, will bowl at the Holland tri-series, the NatWest series, ICC Champions Trophy and the home series against Australia and South Africa.

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Which brings us to another part of the BJSM study: The overall percentage of players unavailable because of injuries was 8.7 per cent, the figure was 16.1 percent for pace bowlers.

Time, then, to start a Save Irfan-Balaji campaign.

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