Tags:
Journalism of Courage
With the Sri Lankan total approaching 600 and the Indian bowlers living a nightmare since the Test started, we caught up with Anusha Samaranayake, the home team’s pace bowling coach, near the practice nets. The ball was soon to land in his court, as a Lankan declaration seemed imminent. So we ask him the million dollar question: How does a pacer get wickets at SSC?
As an answer, he rattles off the names of a few former international bowlers. “Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and, of course, Waqar Younis. One needs to bowl like them to get wickets here.” Easier said than done, considering the list he has floated has an uncanny resemblance to the who’s who of fast bowling. Realising, perhaps, that he has just stated the obvious, he adds a few lesser lights to the list.
“Someone like Matthew Hoggard too can be successful on these wickets. When England toured here, Hoggard got wickets but Harmison failed. The point I’m trying to make is that bowlers who hit the deck will not enjoy much success here. It’s generally the skidders who are among the wickets,” says the coach, winding his way to the formula of bowling on the placid track.
He gradually gives more details. “The bowlers that I mentioned earlier are the sort that moved the ball in the air and off the wicket too. As for the length, it has to be full. And gradually, as the ball gets older, reverse swing becomes crucial,” he says.
Coming to the present context, we ask him about the rapidly moving scoreboard and the virtual standstill of the wickets column. “Zaheer is the best bowler the Indians have. He has bowled well and the only thing that I would have asked from him is to bowl a bit fuller. Ishant too has a great future. This is his first trip to Sri Lanka and he has to learn,” he said.
After assessing the Indian pacers, he goes to the pacers in his dressing room. Here, he talks about Chaminda Vaas, revealing a few more tricks of bowling at the SSC. “The reason Vaas gets wickets here is because he is a skiddy bowler who makes the batsmen play all the time. Vaas, despite bowling at around 120-130kph, can move the ball in the air.
“The short ball is important as well, but one has to make sure the bouncer is at eye level. I’d classify Kulasekara as a support bowler. I don’t expect him to take five wickets, but he can get crucial breakthroughs.”
As if on cue, Kulasekara gets the ball later in the day. Virender Sehwag is looking dangerous, as he always does, but it is clear that Kulasekara has been keeping his ears open in the team meetings. Sehwag is caught at deep square-leg, going for a hook shot off a bouncer that is roughly at eye level.
The final query is related to the result of the Test.
Can a team win at the SSC with four bowlers? “Yes, especially if two of them are masters of the game and the other two can curtail the runs. It helps if one of the spinners can turn the ball a lot,” he smiles.
Looking at the scoreboard at the end of day’s play, the words spoken well before lunch seem practically prophetic.
