Fast bowlers hunt in pairs they say. But in a country where spin is the tried and tested formula for success, pacemen operating from either ends was a sporadic occurrence in its cricketing history till recently.

We have only heard of Mohammad Nissar’s and Amar Singh’s exploits while the duo of Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar was perhaps the first pace pair of prominence in recent times before Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad gave further push to fast bowling in India.

Prabhakar belied the appearance of a fast bowler, but what he lacked in pace he more than made up for with his prodigious swing and the Delhi bowler held more than his own, bowling alongside Kapil. And that is saying something. It comes as no surprise then that the 44-year-old, now the bowling coach of the Delhi team, dismisses as useless the too much stress being placed on bowling fast. “Pace is not everything at this level of cricket,” says Prabhakar.

 “You need some pace, yes I agree. But until and unless you get the ball to swing, you can’t survive for too long in international cricket. You need to make the ball talk, get it do something. That’s is the main weapon for a fast bowler,” he continues.

The former India all-rounder even feels bowling fast is easy, but getting the ball to swing is an art. “It’s not everybody’s cup of tea. You need to be bang on with the grip, the time of ball-release, the line and the length. In my opinion, if a bowler is unable to move the ball, he is not world-class no matter how fast he bowls. And if you can swing the ball at good speed, you can trouble the best batsmen in the business,” he reasons.

Having been away from the game for close to six years due to circumstances not entirely of his own creation, Prabhakar feels good to be back with the game. “This is my first love and in what I have seen in the last five-six years, Delhi was not doing well. So I decided to help them a bit, looking at which they (the Delhi District Cricket Association) gave me this (bowling coach) job, which I am enjoying,” he says.

Prabhakar’s decision to blow the lid off the match-fixing scandal in the late 90s — when he alleged that Kapil was involved — didn’t go well with the powers-that-be and the cricketer, in an ironic twist of events, himself was banned for five years for his alleged involvement in the scandal in 2001. Ask him if he regretted blowing the whistle and the cricketer says he never did and adds that his conscience is clear.

“I don’t regret what I did because someone had to take the first step and I am glad I took that step. You are seeing the difference today, aren’t you? I mean back then people were not ready to listen that something of this sort (match-fixing) is going on. There is so much vigilance everywhere now, cameras are fixed in the hotels to keep track of who is going and coming, mobiles are banned inside the dressing rooms... And if this cleansing of the rot is taking place because I decided to speak up, I am happy for that. This game has given so much to me and it’s my duty to pay back in whatever way I can. The best outcome of all this is that today’s generation has a clean platform to perform,” he explains.