Strauss banking on pacers
LONDON: England captain Andrew Strauss is banking on the accuracy of his pacers to take advantage of the weaknesses, if any, of the strong Indian batting in the upcoming series.
Strauss said the subcontinent teams are better adapted to face short-pitched bowling now. "Are India susceptible to short deliveries? I think all the sub-continent sides have got better at that in recent years.
"It comes as a result of touring here quite often. Certainly their senior players are no strangers to these shores," Strauss was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph.
Strauss said that if his pacers can bowl with accuracy that they have shown in the series against Australia and England, then India can be put in trouble.
Chris Tremlett, for one, played well against India in their last series here in 2006-07. The tall fast bowler is going through a purple patch and Strauss is hoping he can make life uncomfortable for India with his lift and bounce.
"We are not expecting any dramatic weaknesses (in Indian batsmen) there but we know someone like Chris Tremlett performed very well against them last time around here.
"He was a lot younger and probably less developed as a bowler then.
"I think we saw against Australia and Sri Lanka, that type of bowling, if done consistently and accurately, will trouble most people," he said.
Strauss hoped that fast bowler Stuart Broad, who was dropped for the final one-dayer against Sri Lanka, will be soon back to his best.
Broad has gone back to play county cricket for Nottinghamshire and picked up his first five wicket haul for a year against Somerset.
"I am not worried about it. He has not been bowling badly. He has not got as many wickets as he would like.
"But we see Broady as a high-quality performer, a world-class bowler who, if he bangs his length out with a bit of swing and bounce, will trouble most guys around the world.
"Of course, we want him to be confident and taking wickets, and we have every confidence that over the next few weeks he will be doing that again."
Strauss was effusive in praise of Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar has scored 51 Test and 48 one-day tons for his country and Strauss believes there are few signs of his powers diminishing at the age of 38.
"It goes without saying that it is a phenomenal achievement, not just the fact he scored those runs, but his desire and motivation to play that long and keep chasing down those records.
"He seems to be playing as well as ever at the moment. It is a great example for us all that if you are still hungry, there is no reason why your powers should decline as you get older.
"He has been one of the great players over the last 20 years and I'm sure he will want to have a big series.
"Technically he is fantastic, his mental strength to bat under that amount of pressure for all that time, is fantastic.
"He is a very dignified and humble man as well. If there are good examples out there, he is probably the best of them."
News Posted: 15 July, 2011
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