Indian pacers now bowl well on all kind of wickets: Kuruvilla

SULTHAN BATHERY: A late bloomer, former pacer Abey Kuruvilla knows a thing or two about fast bowling. It took half a decade of toil for the tall Mumbai pacer to earn his maiden call-up to the Indian team. Kuruvilla, who played 10 Tests and 25 ODI's for India in the '90s, is delighted to see India's current crop of fast bowlers. "Every champion team has a good set of bowlers in their ranks.Our pace bowling unit is pretty good now. Be it Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Jasprit Bumrah, they are all good. And the good thing is that they bowl well on all sorts of wickets. It makes a lot of difference when pacers get you early wickets and crucial breakthroughs in the middle. Both spinners and pacers have been doing a great job for Indian team," Kuruvilla told TOI during a brief chat at the tea break of the match between Delhi and Team Rajasthan here on Monday.
Kuruvilla attributes the rise in injuries to players to too much of cricket. The Mumbaikar feels there has been a refreshing change in the way players approach a game. "Nowadays, they chase 350 confidently. Now, every team gives priority to fielding. That's a major change," says Kuruvilla.
The former chairman of India's junior selection committee, who has his roots in Alappuzha, Kuruvilla believes that promising talents from Kerala can go places in the near future if they work hard. "Kerala team has been doing reasonably well. Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampy, KS Monish and Fabid Ahmed, they are all good. Kerala could have done better in some matches this season but I think they can improve, I feel," he added.
When asked about Sanju Samson's continuing run of poor scores, Kuruvilla said the dashing youngster can turn it around in the next few matches. "Sanju is a talented guy. Sometimes we all go through these bad phases. Your confidence level may become low. Sanju should get back to his normal style and I hope he will play in a more confident manner," the 48-year old added.