It is perhaps the best generation of talents of fast bowling India have produced - Ian Bishop

With 5.8 million active cases registered worldwide, the COVID pandemic has brought the world to a complete standstill. Several sporting events, including the Indian Premier League and the Tokyo Olympics, have come to an abrupt end in the process.

Several broadcasters have been vocal across the social media platforms, weighing in on the current situation, and sharing various anecdotes about the game.

In an exclusive chat with Harsha Bhogle, Ian Bishop lauded the current Indian pace bowling annex for its indefatigable and fearless framework in the longer format.  

"It is perhaps the best generation of talents of fast bowling India have produced. And it started a while ago," Bishop was quoted as saying in a show called 'Cricbuzz In Conversation.'

Bishop also believes that the process that eventually began in the 2000s is already paving the way for the development of the pace bowling resources in the country.

"We can go back to Zaheer, RP Singh, Munaf Patel and that little cluster that came through after Srinath, who followed Kapil Dev. It's great to see," he added.

Bolstered by the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav, India's current bowling attack has been central to India's supremacy in away tours, especially in the SENA countries.

The former West Indies pacer said that India has already realised the importance of strengthening its bowling arsenal, particularly in the longer format. Bishop also charted out that the BCCI has earmarked National Cricket Academy (NCA) and MRF Pace Foundation as a breeding ground for the upcoming pace talents in the country.

"It seemed to me from the outside that there was a deliberate attempt by India to recognise that 'batsmen were good, but if have to win overseas, we have to get players from the MRF Pace Foundation and the NCA coming through, try to prepare pitches to encourage these faster bowlers rather than dusty turners'," Bishop said. 

India's current bowling quartet, consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, have exemplified unwavering dedication and intrepidity - a characteristic that reminds Bishop of the West Indian pace attack back in the 1980s.

"And now when you have three fast bowlers, sometimes four and an excellent spinner, it takes my mind back to the West Indies pace quartet before my generation - the Marshalls, the Holdings, the Garners, the Roberts -- I'll stick Colin Croft in there," he added.