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The hidden decline

There has been a lot of talk recently about the big hole in India's Test team that will be left by the imminent retirement of Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman and this article is another example of that. And while that is likely to be true in the near term, I think the batting line-up will recover far sooner than most people think. For one, in Sehwag and Gambhir there will still be two world class batsmen remaining and also the bench looks reasonably healthy with the likes of Vijay, Badrinath, Pujara, Kohli, and Rohit Sharma all fighting for spots.

What has not been talked about much and has been a problem for much longer are the bowling stocks. Despite India's improving record in Test cricket over the last 5 years, there has not been a single new bowler who has managed to establish a permanent spot in the team as a world class performer. In fact in the last two decades, India has produced only three bowlers who consistently delivered Test class performances in Kumble, Srinath, and Zaheer Khan. A little more leniency would see Harbhajan join that list but that's it. The assembly line of quicks that have all sparkled sporadically but then fallen away continues to grow by the day. Irfan, Nehra, Balaji, Sreesanth, R.P., Munaf, and now Ishant. And the spin situation is worse if anything with almost no real back-up for Harbhajan. A remarkable stat I recently found was that visiting teams in the past ten years have scored nearly 120 more runs per match than they did in the ten year period prior to that and at a higher run rate. Which essentially puts the batting under more pressure, especially if a foreign bowler has a great day.

So the real worries for the team will begin when Tendulkar and co retire but when Zaheer Khan does. The hunt for match-winning bowlers better start in right earnest!

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