Anil Kumble - New team India Coach

So finally the selection committee comprising of Sachin, Saurav & Laxman has chosen the new team India coach for next one year - the name is Anil Kumble. Until Kumble had applied for the coveted job, it was almost sure that Ravi Shastri will get that high profile post. But once, Kumble had come into the picture, the equation has changed. An Engineer has engineered his presentation in such a way that the legendary selectors were happy to nominate him. He has mentioned that the interview was 'nerve wrecking' & the blue print of Indian cricket was great to present in-front of his colleagues. A legend during his era is known for his work ethic & discipline which he will inculcate among the youngsters & this will surely help team India in the long run. Entire cricketing fraternity is very happy to see Kumble as the coach.

Rather than playing competitive cricket, Kumble will also inculcate the 'Indianness' among them - mutual respect, trust. And during the 5 days training at Bangalore prior to the travel to the Caribbean, he is a happy man as the young folks have accepted him & accepted his ideas with openness.

Team India under John Wright had brought laurels for this cricket frenzy nation & Kumble was a key member during that period. After that also, Kumble has worked with Mr. Wright during IPL stints for Mumbai Indians. So he will surely bring some key positive influences of  John Wright. He has understood the philosophy of a cricket coach well. And so he has categorically mentioned that he wants to be an enabler for things to happen good for team India. His approach to the players will be good to watch for as he wants to create the more leaders.

The team under him has flown to West Indies. Now as a cricket lover, you shouldn't forget the day when Kumble had bowled 14 consecutive overs with broken jaw at Antigua & dismissed legendary Brian Lara!!

India is going to play a lot many test matches this season along with ODIs & T20s.He feels that this is the best time to get this job as he also can run along with the young lads of the team. Hope his work ethic, discipline & passion brings the best out of each & every player of men in Blue & his legendary tale should continue in years to come.

Jasprit Bumrah - a new sensation for India

India has a history of producing great batsmen in world cricket. And some quality spinners too. But do you remember any great fast bowlers before 2000 rather than Kapil Dev & Javagal Srinath? There can be lot of debates on this but honestly, the bowlers who consistently performed well for the team- not many. New Indian cricket team in the new millennium has witnessed some great promising passionate bunch of bowlers - Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Shami are very few among them. But who is consistent among them?

Isn't it quite a bit easy to get picked in the Indian Cricket team if you are a pacer & perform continuously well in one domestic season?  If you look into the data, it shows that the shelf life of fast bowlers in India is very less. Since 2004, 52 of Indian cricketers have made their debuts, 25 out of them were fast bowlers! 

Jasprit Bumrah has made his debut for India in the month of January against the Aussies in Australia. And he is not a unknown cricketer though. He made his debut for Mumbai Indians in IPL'2013. And if you remember his first match, he took 3 wickets for 32 runs in 4 overs after conceding 3 fours by Virat Kohli in his first 4 deliveries. It was good for him that John Wright had spotted him in a talent hunt & for Bumrah to get picked in the star studded Mumbai Indians was great when he never played for his own state Gujrat in Ranji Trophy or in any 50-over match earlier. He might not have ever thought of sharing the new bowl with Ashish Nehra who made his debut for India long back in 1999. And this is the fun of this great game of cricket. 

A different bowling action. Match against Aus-A in 2014

India was in search of quality death bowlers. And Bumrah has just filled that hollow gap. His ability to bowl consistent yorkers in the death overs has helped the team. If you are a bowler, it is expected that you will bowl some rare yorkers in a match. But to bowl consistent yorkers is something when you should have lot of control in your bowling. And of-course this requires lot of practice. Sharing the same dressing room along with Lasith Malinga might have helped him as well. With a very different bowling action, along with variations have troubled some of the great players in recent time. Dhoni praised about him saying that he is the 'find of Australian tour'. And the maturity he has shown in this small time is commendable. It is important to keep himself fit as many former cricketers are saying that his bowling action is injury prone. 

Fans around the World have got one very interesting fast bowler to watch out for. Hope his shelf life will be far better than many other promising fast bowlers of this great nation.