Indian pace attack gets a huge pat

New Zealand greats Sir Richard Hadlee and Stephen Fleming have said that they were quite impressed with the Indian pace attack which has played a key role in defending champions bowling out all their opponents in an unbeaten four-match run.   

“Our attack has proved they are the best in the world at the moment,” said Hadlee when asked as to which pace unit has impressed him the most. “Southee and Boult have 13 wickets each, Vettori has 12. We’ve bowled sides out. There are some other good bowling attacks. Australia, with Starc and Johnson, Steyn is getting better for South Africa, good back up with Morkel.

“I am more impressed with the Indian pace attack now than a couple of months ago. In Australia (Tests and tri-series), I thought the attack really struggled, with lines and lengths… It was too inconsistent. They’ve sorted that out. (Mohammad) Shami in particular has been impressive. The bowling has been the weaker suit, but they’ve sorted that out. That is going to make them very competitive in this tournament,” he remarked.

Fleming echoed Hadlee’s sentiments. “It (fast bowling) was an area that India seemed to have a weakness and I think they’ve turned that around into one of their strengths,” he pointed out. “Since Ishant Sharma went home, there was probably a sigh that you’re going to get undone in the fast bowling, but I’ve seen Mohit’s (Sharma) development closely. His work with Andy Bichel (for CSK) was impressive. I think he’s just fit and strong and his emotion with the World Cup performances against Pakistan was great for the Indian side to get started and win.”