NEW DELHI, Jan 19: The Indian pace attack has been talked up of late and to be fair, they have done a decent job in South Africa. But Shoaib Akhtar sees it only as the beginning and says there is still a long way to go before India becomes a good fast bowling nation.
After a long gap, India have developed a sizeable pool of speedsters and five of them � Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah � are with the squad in South Africa.
Is it one of the best pace attacks India have ever had?
�I would not say that. I would say they are gradually improving and there is a long way to go before India can call itself a good fast bowling nation,� Akhtar told PTI in an interview.
�Five years ago, I had thought that Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami will be the ones to lead India�s pace department on overseas tours.
�But that did not happen with Aaron having fitness issues, Yadav being good in patches and erratic other times, like Wahab Riaz.� But Akhtar said the current performance of the bowlers is a �healthy sign�
�And the thinking that (Virat) Kohli and the team management seem to have, they will only get better.
�India have always been known for their batting but nowadays you are seeing emergence of fast bowlers too but still I would say long way to go,� said the fearsome �Rawalpindi Express�, who will be seen in action at St. Moritz Ice Cricket in Switzerland next month. � PTI
