 Indian seamers beware!
 It has become fashionable, almost de rigueur, to lament the so-called lack of bench strength in Indian cricket. The ongoing Challenger Series of one-day matches for the NKP Salve Trophy however indicates quite the contrary. Y Venugopal Rao has conclusively proved, if proof is indeed needed, that he is a cool customer with a mature, thinking head on strong shoulders capable of carrying the team’s burden. In the first two matches in the competition, he has made 98 and 101 not out, and with the minimum of fuss, starting slow and then pacing his innings to play a wide range of shots from the late cut to the lofted pull, all round the wicket. He has shown a calm self-assurance rare in an Indian batsman, and I include the superstars in the comparison.
 If the batting places in the Indian XI are more or less written in stone - The Untouchables, Sunil Gavaskar calls India’s top five - the bowling spots are not so secure or permanent. Ashish Nehra has proved injury-prone in the extreme, Zaheer a touch low on confidence and consistency of fitness and bowling form, Balaji woefully out of sorts and equally injury-hit, Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are battling their own battles - with age, politics and angle of flexion of the bowling arm.
 It is in this context that the performances of a number of medium and fast-medium bowlers in the Challenger Series have been extremely heartening. Kerala’s Sreesanth Menon was a surprise package, quick, able to move the ball, and fiery by temperament. He dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in Tuesday’s match with a beauty, had Kaif caught behind, rattled Rao’s stumps first ball with a no ball, and had Yuvraj Singh caught behind off a snick all of India heard but the umpire missed. Here’s a bowler to watch and nurture.
 There were a number of other enthusiastic young medium pacers like R P Singh, Sunny Singh and Ranadeb Bose, but tall and well-built V R V (Vikram) Singh was the most impressive. He seems to be a genuine quick in the making, easily the fastest on view in the championship. He bowls from a good height and really brings the ball down with a bang, repeatedly beating India Seniors batsmen for pace.
Vikram Singh is raw but bowls with a lot of heart, a quality Greg Chappell is looking for in India’s young hopefuls. He also played a powerful little innings to win the match for his side in the last over against India Seniors, showing no nerves whatsoever. Look out. Zaheer, Irfan, Balaji and Ashish!, There’s real competition breathing down your necks.
V Ramnarayan
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