The Short and Long of India's Success
Short bowling has never been a success mantra for India. Whether it be with the willow or the leather. Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were the few Indian batsmen known to make short work of the short ball but not one Indian bowler could boast of having used the short ball as a consistent weapon, at least, until today.
Brace yourselves for a stat attack.(World Cup 2015: Full Coverage)
Three out of the top four Pakistani batsmen and a total of five out of the eleven fell to the short ball bowled by India's spearheads.
Three out of the four South African batsmen dismissed by India's pacers, succumbed to the one called the bouncer.(Windies Let Down by Batsmen: Richards)
Two out of the four UAE hopefuls, whose hopes were dashed by India's speed machines, couldn't handle the one that threatened their helmets.(Dhoni Beats Ganguly for Most Overseas Win)
And, four out of the six full of swagger West Indians, who fell to the new definition of Indians with pace, were destroyed by the storm of India hitting the deck hard and early.
That's 14 out of the 22 scalps claimed by India's pace bowlers, victims of the shortish stuff.(Dhoni Keeps Wickets Without Pads)
This consistency shows that MS Dhoni and company are employing this as a conscious strategy. Why hasn't any side figured this out till now? Well, maybe because like us, nobody could believe that India, the India which had Venkatesh Prasad as its fastest bowler in many a match, would be employing the tactic of bowling short as its plan A.(Jadeja Must Improve, Says Dhoni)
It's not that India is just bowling short and it is working. It's the accuracy of the line. It's the snorters that attempt to kiss the grill of the helmets as if to signal a new wicket taking method - the kiss of death by bouncer. But surely, the world's best should be able to handle the wicked helmet line, a transition from the ridiculed bodyline? Younis Khan, Misbah ul-Haq, Hashim Amla, Chris Gayle are just some of the stalwarts who have been found wanting in front of the likes of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Mohit Sharma.
With the minnows Ireland and Zimbabwe up next for India, expect the same strategy to be employed with an extra dash of spin, but when it comes to the knock-out stage can India expect to make the inroads it has with a strategy which is as far from its grain as Afghanistan is from reaching the knock outs?