There are many factors resulting in India's Future Cup loss to Australia. Most can be traced back to the one-day series loss to the West Indies in March 2006 when the Indian team started its slump in the 50-over version of the game.

One aspect of India's one-day plan that has somehow slipped off the radar recently has been their lack of part-time bowlers who can provide five overs or more when required and snare a few surprise wickets.

Indian fans must surely yearn for the days when Sachin Tendulkar would come on for a bowl somewhere in the middle overs, snare the wicket of an over-confident batsman and, the next thing you know, the opposition would collapse. Over time, India have used other part-time bowlers such as Ajay Jadeja, Saurav Ganguly and, until last year, Virender Sehwag.

'Other teams have used this weapon really well. Australia's Michael Clarke has become an excellent option as a part-time bowler constantly picking up surprise wickets'


There were many games where India seemed odds-on for a loss before these bowlers came on and disrupted the rhythm of the batsmen, leading to sudden collapses and exciting victories.

The three years of ODI success from 2002-2005 when India had a seven-batsman strategy resulted in the neglecting of the wild card option. Four specialist bowlers would fulfill their allotments and then you would have Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh dividing 10 overs between them in two- to three-over spells.

When Mohammed Kaif was dropped from the team, this tactic was brought back to minimal effect. Sehwag had some early success as a partnership breaker then fell away. Dinesh Mongia was tried, but also failed miserably. More recently, Yuvraj has been given an opportunity and while he can bowl a few economical overs at the start, his variation is so limited that after three overs batsmen can easily go after him. Dimitri Mascheranas proved it in England, and in the recently concluded series, there were two instances where Yuvraj had overs that went for more than 15 runs.

Other teams have used this weapon really well. Australia's Michael Clarke has become an excellent option as a part-time bowler constantly picking up surprise wickets ( Sanath Jayasuriya in the World Cup final). Paul Collingwood is turning out to be handy option for England, while South Africa and New Zealand also use this option.

I am not stating even for a moment that a part-time bowler is a match-winner in ODIs. Nevertheless, one-day cricket is very much a game of momentum and phases. The sixth bowler might rarely be a match-winner but in the middle overs, when the the game can be won or lost, a part-timer can either go for 10 an over or, by taking a wicket, can help the established bowlers choke the run rate. On such thin margins are one-day games decided – the Indian think tank should take note.

Who could fulfill the part-time bowler role for the Indians? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.