The Indian cricket team is basking in glory after their astounding Test series win against Australia at home. The fact that India has not won a Test series abroad in the last eight years is playing on their minds. Saurav Ganguly and his men would want to set the record straight as soon as possible. The forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe presents an ideal opportunity for the Indians to win a Test series abroad. The Indian batting line up is one of the very best in the world, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly making the run machine. It is the bowling department that causes some worry, when it comes to winning Test matches for India.

The selectors have declared a squad of 26 for the preparatory camp ahead of the tour. It would be interesting to take a look at the Indian bowling which would have to bowl out 20 wickets in the Test matches to give India victory. In all possibility India will play four bowlers in the Test match with Tendulkar and Ganguly filling in the change bowler's role. Javagal Srinath and Harbhajan Singh are the only certainties. The other two spots will be fought out between Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and in all possibility the off spinner Sarandeep Singh.

Rahul Sanghvi might make the trip to Zimbabwe, but the very fact that he was dumped after the first Test match against Australia in Mumbai after he had bowled 10 overs in five spells says a lot about the kind of confidence Ganguly has in left arm spinners. To add to the theory, Nilesh Kulkarni was asked to bowl a run denying negative line in the third Test at Chennai. Murali Kartik too was given a raw deal by Ganguly on his debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

A closer look at the statistics suggest that the Indian bowling is not really anywhere near match-winning standards with the exception of Harbhajan Singh. Javagal Srinath is India's spearhead in the fast bowling department. The 32 year old speedster from Karnataka made his debut against the Aussies at the Gabba, Brisbane in the year 1991 and has so far played in 50 Test matches picking up 185 wickets at 29.94 runs apiece. He has picked up five wicket in an innings seven times with the best figures of 8/86. He has a Test match strike rate of 62.60 when compared to that of Zimbabwe's Heath Streak, who has a better figure of 57.40

Ajit Agarkar the 23 year old fast bowler from Mumbai is almost a certainty to tour Zimbabwe. He made his Test match debut at Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe in 1998, which India lost by 61 runs. He has so far represented India in nine Test matches picking up 23 wickets at 36.86 apiece with a strike rate of 77.20. There is so much potential in this young fast bowler but he has not developed into a genuine Test match winner. India will be looking forward to him to deliver the goods in Zimbabwe. It is a do or die situation for Agarkar; any further extension of failure will not been taken lightly by the selectors, given the fact that there are other young fast bowlers in Ashish Nehra and Rakesh Patel waiting in the wings.

Zaheer Khan is a newcomer to Test match cricket. This 22 year old fast bowler was instrumental in Baroda winning the Ranji Trophy this season. He made his Test match debut in Bangladesh and has so far played in 4 Test matches, picking up eight wickets at 48 runs apiece with a strike rate of 89.70. Though the fact that he is relatively new to the international level does not justify his strike rate.

Harbhajan Singh, the twenty year old lad from Punjab is the new Indian bowling sensation. He made his Test debut against the Aussies at Bangalore in March 1998. Though he disappeared from the international arena for a couple of years, he made a strong comeback against the visiting Aussies in 2001, picking up 32 wickets in the three Test match series. He single-handedly destroyed the acclaimed Aussie batting with his brand of off spinners. In the 11 Test matches he has played he has picked up 53 wickets with a career best of 8/84. A remarkable bowling average of 25.56 with a strike rate of 52.5 makes him the most lethal of the bowlers amongst the Indian bowling line up.

Sarandeep Singh, the 21 year old Off spinner from Punjab has been distinctly unlucky after making a good debut against Zimbabwe at Nagpur in November 2000. He did not get to play a Test match after the Nagpur match, in which he picked up six wickets at 34.33 apiece with a strike rate of 71.00. India might decide to go in with two off spinners, given the fact that Zimbabwe has a good deal of left handed batsmen in their team.

Sachin Tendulkar who is better known with his exploits with the bat is an able bowler too. He notched up his 100th ODI wicket recently against the visiting Aussies at home. Tendulkar has not been a great success in Test match cricket. One look at his phenomenal ability and the bowling statistics reveal that he has not been used properly, as a bowler. In the 82 Test matches that he has graced this great game of Test cricket, he has bowled a mere 273 overs and picked up 22 wickets at 38.09 runs apiece. The fact that his strike rate is 74.4 balls per wicket suggest that he has been used as a change bowler.

Compared to all players on show is the man who has been the main cog in the Indian bowling machine, Anil Kumble. There can't be two opinions about Kumble's match winning capability. He has won India more matches than anyone in the last Ten years. This 30 year old leg spinner from Karnataka who is nursing a shoulder injury will be sorely missed in Zimbabwe. Kumble has the rare distinction of picking up all the ten wickets to fall in an innings (10/74 against Pakistan in New Delhi). In 61 Test match appearances he has picked up 276 wickets at an average of 28.00 with a strike rate of 69.20

So, many reasons including the restrictive style of bowling used in One-Day Internationals could be suggested for the poor strike rate of the Indian bowlers. The average strike rate of the bowlers mentioned above (leaving out Kumble) is around 71.23. All said and done, India will have to do well in all the departments of the game against Zimbabwe to fulfill their dream of winning a Test series abroad.

© CricInfo