Asia Cup green tops breathe life into pacers

Dubai. The green top pitches in Bangladesh for the Asia Cup came in for heavy criticism as soon as the tournament started. Most teams felt that it will not provide the ideal preparation for the batsmen in the oncoming ICC World Twenty20 Cup in India, but these green tops made Asia Cup exciting. It erased the usual perception that Twenty20 is just a batsman’s game.

These wickets brought to the fore the guiles of pace bowlers like Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, India’s Jasprit Bumrah and UAE’s Amjad Javed. They all made top order batsmen tremble and later order batsmen were forced to battle hard to post challenging totals. This tournament showed that pacers in full flow are also a treat to watch in T20 cricket.

Cricket fans are so used to watching sixers are fours that pacers in full flow in Twenty20 matches was indeed difficult for a few to digest. Bangladesh as hosts of this tournament needs to be lauded for showing the guts to create green tops. The four overs that Amir bowled against India were electrifying. The battle between Virat Kohli and Amir was a treat to watch. Amir’s scorching yorkers and the way he slanted the ball to clean bowl Rohit Sharma and trap Ajinkya Rahane leg before were brilliant. After his four over spell many remarked that had Amir not been involved in the spot fixing scandal and subsequently banned he may have shattered many bowling records by now.

Mustafizur Rehman is another left-arm pacer like Amir, who showed how deadly he can be as a bowler. The only bowler to produce two five wicket spells in his first two One-day Internationals, he is intelligent. The brilliance with which he mixes his slower ones and fast deliveries, sometimes even clocking 140kph, are a treat to watch. His cutters are very effective too. The fact he is only 20 years old and is bowling so well makes him a bowler who is destined for greater glory. It should be remembered that when he first came into the scene, he lacked pace but built it over the years and hence he is sure to add much more tricks to his bowling.

Pacers too need wickets to flourish. It’s pity that most Twenty20 is played only on wickets favourable to batsmen. Asia Cup proved that when batsmen’s skills are put to test by best of pacers, it is exciting even in Twenty20 format.

India’s Jasprit Bumrah is just 22 years old. Unlike Amir and Mustafizur, he is a right arm pacer but created a huge impression in this Asia Cup. He has an unusual action which makes the batsmen hurry. The fact that he could bowl many dot balls in this tournament proves that he can be very effective in all limited over formats.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the Australia tour had remarked that Bumrah is the find of the tour. Incidentally, he may not have found a place in the Indian team for Australia but for injuries to some of the players. Bumrah used this opportunity well and his ability to bowl effective yorkers impressed Dhoni the most.

Bumrah is a product of the Indian Premier League. In his debut match for IPL he took 3 for 32 against Royal Challengers and has only moved from strength to strength. He once revealed that it was the training he received while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL that helped him bowl faster.

It is not that only bowlers from the Test playing countries sparkled during the Asia Cup. UAE’s tall and lanky pacer Amjad Javed topped the wicket takers list with impressive spells starting from the qualifying matches. His three wicket spell scared the Pakistan team. Speaking to Gulf News after his fine performance in the Asia Cup, Javed said: “I could swing the ball effectively on those wickets and all I did was to bowl a good line and length.”

Javed hardly gets to bowl on those types of wickets in UAE. He used his height to full advantage and has become more effective with good tips from his team coach, former Pakistan pacer Aqib Javed. All along Javed had the ability to swing the ball away and now he has added more tricks to his bowling.

Wickets with life have given fresh lease of life for pacers in Twenty20 and hence organisers of Twenty20 leagues and tournaments should once in a while continue to create green tops too.