India are at forefront of fast bowling renaissance: Ian Bishop

From being seen as a side that used fast bowlers to take the shine off the ball to one possessing some of the best quicks in the game today, India have come a long way. The rise of India as a fast-bowling powerhouse has reflected in the results, particularly overseas. 

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop thinks that India are at the forefront of fast bowling renaissance and it’s due to the realization they had years ago. The way India shifted their priorities has led to the revolution. 

“India are at the forefront, the vanguard, of this fast bowling renaissance because they obviously recognised this years ago,” said the cricketer-turned-commentator during Sony Ten’s Pit Stop.

“If you want to be the number one team in the world, you cannot rely on your spinners all the time because when you travel to western countries, spin is apparently only a certain stage of the game, you have to have fast bowling and India have found that.”

Since the workload continues of pacer is always the talking point, Ian Bishop thinks that India need to manage that for the pacers, especially the spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

“Jasprit is one of a small group of bowlers who transcend the various formats of the game. But you can’t expect him to last if he is playing every game in every format. The human body cannot do that. You have to manage these precious resources because he is a generational talent,” he said.

The 52-year-old called the current age golden period of fast bowling. 

“I think we are in a golden period of fast bowling. You look at what the West Indies are bringing, then there is (Mitchell) Starc and (Josh) Hazlewood for Australia along with the number one ranked Test bowler in the world as well (Pat Cummins),” he said.

“England have Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to supplement the experience of (Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson. Jofra I think has the best action in world cricket at the moment,” he added.