Now you see them, now you don't

UMPIRE'S POST

Fast bowled "" and out!

There is an apocryphal story about the Indian cricket administration in the late 1970s. An up and coming Kapil Dev wanted more nutrition in the food for fast bowlers. The official assessing the request said: "But there are no fast bowlers."

Those were the days when Mohinder Amarnath or Sunil Gavaskar opening India's attack was fresh memory, as was Salim Durrani trying to take the shine off the new ball by rubbing it on the ground.

Given the healthy supply of fast bowlers in recent years, it is tempting to believe that the official has been given a resounding repartee.

Far from it. The large number of fast bowlers coming into the Indian team, which presupposes that a large number has been going out, is not the solution. It is the new problem.

Just a few days ago the channels were agog with news of Ishant Sharma, Delhi's 18-year-old seamer, joining the Indian team in South Africa. He did not, but that is another story.

While the rise of a new talent is a good reason to celebrate, everyone forgot that Irfan Pathan had been sent back.

The fear is that Pathan could join the fast-swelling rank of once-upon-a-time rising stars.

After Kapil Dev, only Javagal Srinath "" 12 years of international cricket "" has played for India for a respectable period.

Kapil initially formed a successful partnership with Karsan Ghavri. When Ghavri exited, Roger Binny, Madan Lal, Chetan Sharma, T A Sekhar, Raju Kulkarni, Sanjeev Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar filled in, for short spells.

The 1989 tour to Pakistan heralded two young fast bowlers: Salil Ankola, who is now trying to make a mark as an actor, and Vivek Razdan. Then came Atul Wassan, who earned Gavaskar's praise for being reprimanded for intimidating bowling in England.

Venkatesh Prasad was the only one who formed a somewhat stable "" he played less than 35 tests "" partnership with Srinath. Ashish Winston Zaidi, Prashant Vaidya, T Yohannan, Paras Mhambrey, Abey Kuruvilla and Subroto Bannerjee came and went.

Ajit Agarkar flickered, and is still flickering, apart from one match-winning spell of six for 41 at Adelaide. Harvinder Singh and Debashish Mohanty could never become more than back-ups.

The turn of the century threw up a fresh crop: Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, who, under Srinath's tutelage, rocked at the last World Cup.

L Balaji became a heartthrob in Pakistan. Nehra and Balaji have since joined Shib Shankar Paul, Ranadeb Bose, Gagandeep Singh on the sidelines.

The latest generation is of R P Singh, Munaf Patel, V R V Singh and poster boy Sreesanth.

In this scenario, any talk of longevity can be considered impolite. And the old adage "" that fast bowlers hunt in pairs "" needs to be stashed away.