We have variety in pace attack: Pandit

Regardless of the average age of the touring party,when any cricket team arrives in South Africa and New Zealand,the focus remains on the pacers...

Regardless of the average age of the touring party,when any cricket team arrives in South Africa and New Zealand,the focus remains on the pacers. Despite the limited media exposure of the India under-19 team,it wasnt tough to trace the pacers in the squad. Towering at the official photo session and understandably given standing instructions to take the back row,four pacers stood out because of their height advantage.

Jaydev Unadkat Saurashtra,Saurabh Netrawalkar Mumbai,Harshal Patel Gujarat,and Sandeep Sharma Punjab will be the bowlers on whom the team has high hopes when they take field. Coach Chandrakant Pandit is excited about the new ball attack and stresses that his pace department isnt one-dimensional.

Jaydev and Saurabh are quick and are expected to get bounce while Harshal and Sandeep are swing bowlers. Of the four two are left-handers. We have enough variety and we hope that they do well, Pandit said.

Jaydev says that he learnt a lot during the teams interaction with Sachin Tendulkar a few days back. For bowlers he said that they shouldnt get excited on seeing green tracks. Line and length remains the key. Sachin told us that we need create confusion in a batsmans mind whether to be on front or back foot, he says.

Harshal had been in touch with the skipper of the Gujarat Ranji side Parthiv Patel to get an idea about the conditions in New Zealand. I have been told that ball swings a lot there and pacers always have upper hand. I can swing ball both the ways. I will have to adapt to the conditions early and bowl to a proper line, the 17-year-old said.

Sandeep,whose father is a farmer in Ferozpur,banks on swing to take wickets is under no illusion that things will be easy in New Zealand. People say that New Zealand will help me as Im a swing bowler. But its tough to control swing. So it will be challenge for me, says the 17-year-old,who took 34 wickets in Zonal matches.