The series against Australia is only three matches old — a T20 and two ODIs — but Indian bowlers have already conceded 864 runs in 120 overs. This equates to a run-rate of 7.2 runs an over, eye-popping even in this age of slam-bang cricket. While Indian skipper MS Dhoni lauded his batsmen's stunning chase of 360 in Jaipur on Wednesday night, in the same breath, he came down hard on his bowling attack. "We need to improve in bowling. If you attempt a yorker and it becomes a low full toss, it's fine, but if it becomes a waist-high full toss, then the margin is too much. It's one area we are looking to improve."

What Dhoni was pointing out was the inconsistency of the seamers and spinners alike. The medium-pacers — Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar — maintain a stock length between 6 and 8 metres on the pitch. In the good old days, this area — termed as just short of good length — was considered ideal as it didn't provide the batsmen the opportunity to play off the back or the front foot. That has changed dramatically in the last couple of the years, fuelled by the rise of T20. The batsmen are prepared to take risks by jumping out of the crease or pushing right back. And the bowling doesn't seem to have adapted to this.


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Keywords: T20 , ODIs, Indian bowlers , cricket,Indian skipper MS Dhoni, batsmen, seamers , spinners ,pacers,Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar , Bhuvneshwar Kumar,cricket news,sports news