Though India were thrashed 4-0 in their last tour to England, former captain Kapil Dev is of the opinion that if the current set of batsmen delivers big, the bowling attack, even sans Zaheer Khan, was capable of complementing them in the five-Test series starting on July 9.
"This team looks much stronger, but it's not going to be easy. Let anybody say whatever they want to say. It's going to be tough. If the batsmen survive (bat well) this time, our bowlers would do much better and I have a little more hope if (off-spinner Ravichandran) Ashwin or (left-arm spinner Ravindra) Jadeja come back (to form) and start bowling well outside India," the former all-rounder said today.
The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper exuded confidence in the abilities of pacers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami to use the favourable conditions for seam bowling in England and said the attack would become more potent if lanky speedster Ishant Sharma performed well as the pace spearhead.
"I believe in the bowling and not worried about it. Bhuvaneshwar is a seam bowler and these are ideal conditions and so is the case with Shami too. Ishant is the head of the pack and I still believe if he comes out good I have a lot of confidence in the other two."
Kapil, who would be a commentator on Star Sports channel for the first three Tests, rued the absence of a genuine pace bowling all-rounder in the team and did not think that Stuart Binny fits the bill at the moment.
"Had there been one good all-rounder it would have been a different story altogether -- If he can bowl 20 overs in a day and bat at no. 7 or 6. Stuart Binny has to come a long way to get into the team. He does not give the impression he can bowl 20 overs in a day. If he can manage that then he would look totally different," the legendary cricketer said.
"He's a brilliant fielder but I have a doubt whether he can bowl 20 overs. Let's be critical when we are required to be critical. All of them are four over bowlers basically. I have not seen them bowling 20-30 overs, that's where I have a doubt, a reservation in my mind. But let us give the benefit of the doubt to these boys.
