Out-of-form bowler Irfan Pathan would seek help from Pakistani legend Wasim Akram to sort out his weaknesses ahead of the start of India's three-Test series against South Africa in Johannesburg on Friday.
It is not the first time that the Indian left-arm seamer has turned to the former Pakistani captain, he had famously taken tips from him during India's tour of Australia where he made his debut.
Pathan's move underlines "help" which the team management has sought from outside sources without quite reconsidering if even at this late stage they could think about hiring a bowling coach.
In fact, chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, here to assist the team mainly in selection matters, is likely to exchange ideas with the team management on the long-simmering issue of a bowling coach.
Vengsarkar left home stating "bowling coach is a must" last week but did not find an echo down from South Africa, though to be fair to the Indian team management they have consistently chosen silence over eloquence on the matter.
Bowling coach is a trend worldwide. Troy Cooley came into news for his work with the England bowlers during the 2005 Ashes series though he has now pitched his tent with the Australian team.
Waqar Younis has been roped in by the Pakistan Cricket Board while the likes of Vincent Barnes for South Africa and Kevin Shine for England also receive a fair share of attention for working with the national bowlers.
National selector Venkatapathy Raju and former India paceman Venkatesh Prasad have already stated that the current crop of young fast bowlers could only be assisted in right direction by a bowling coach.
Pathan more than mirrors the problem of Indian young fast bowlers: an explosive entry into international arena and then gradual waning of powers which has led him to seek out the likes of Andy Roberts, Jeff Thomson, Danny Morrison and Akram of course.
Munaf Patel has found out how just a year could be too much in the life of an international fast bowler. Akram thinks he is too worn-out for a 24-year-old fast bowler.
Javagal Srinath, a shining exception in the Indian pace bowling stable in the last two decades, is away in New Zealand doing match-referee's duty and is understandably tight-lipped to make a reaction.
But in a column in a national daily, he made some uncommonly harsh reactions.
"The current management seems quite allergic to the concept of having a bowling coach and it's now too late to have one...nothing reflects this more than the fact that over 10 fast bowlers have been experimented with in the last year.
And still the team is not in a position to name three bowlers," wrote Srinath.
Even though Vengsarkar has outlined his focus on the forthcoming Test series, it cannot be that he is not worried about India's disastrous one-day campaigns of recent months or how the fast bowlers don't seem to have a clue about bowling in death overs.
Time and again, in the recent one-day series against South Africa, India was hammered into submission in the final overs by opposition. The memories of Justin Kemp's onslaught and the thrashing in tour opener in Benoni is still fresh.
The team management has been consistent in its philosophy that the "young-fast-bowlers-are-inexperienced-and-it-showed" but perhaps that alone should be the reason for a specialist's inputs.
The Indian board, indecisive at best, was cautious in its reaction. Board secretary Niranjan Shah did not want a knee-jerk reaction on India's one-day thrashing in South Africa.
The issue though could be raised at the Board's working committee meeting on December 23 which implies that at least for the present series, there is not going to be any bowling coach.
© 2024 Rediff.com -