By Gokul
January 26 2006

Rookie RP Singh wins the Man of the Match award in Faisalabad, a track that had nothing in it for bowlers. Is it time to bring in the next generation of Indian Pacers? In 1989, after Vivek Razdan got 5 wickets in his debut test in Pakistan, RP Singh in his debut is the first Indian pacer to make the ball talk on a track where bowlers of the calibre of Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan were embarrassed (in the first innings). This test provides more than a hint of India’s pace bowling future.

The earlier generation of fast bowlers from the 90s headed by Ankola, Wasson, Srinath, Prasad(before he went to MRF) and Kuruvilla (in the early stages) were faster than any of the bowlers who open with the new ball for India these days. Even club cricketers like me (whose daily training comprises running up and down several flights of stairs to take the Metro) are consistently clocking 75-78 mph with a semi-new ball.

It is time now to blood VRV Singh, Gagandeep Singh, and Munaf Patel, and seriously watch SS Paul and others who have either liquid pace or bowl wicket-taking balls on a consistent basis?