PTI

Faisalabad, Jan 21: Having transformed the Indian team into a winning unit, coach Greg Chappell rues the absence of a genuine fast bowler in the line-up who he believes will help his team bridge the gap with world champions Australia.
Chappell said a tearaway fast bowler would be a more potent weapon in the bowling arsenal as he could win matches in all sorts of conditions. For all the action from Pakistan CLICK HERE

"To me Australia still is the number one team in the world, they are the benchmark. I am pretty happy with the progress we have made in recent months, be it in ODIs or in Test matches. But we would need a genuine fast bowler," the 57-year old former Aussie captain said.

"History tells us that teams with tearaway fast bowlers are the ones which win in all sort of conditions. At the moment we are keeping our eyes on a couple of bowlers. But so far our bowlers have done what could be asked of them," he told PTI in an interview.

"In Zimbabwe, our fast bowlers did what was required of them and in India our spinners made good use of the conditions. Men like Ajit Agarkar might not get many wickets but they get important breakthroughs."

Chappell said that on flat tracks like the one at Gaddafi stadium for the first Test, the bowlers, of either the fast or the slow variety, need to show patience, a virtue best exemplified by Anil Kumble.

He cited the example of Adelaide Test of 2004 where Kumble helped the team overcome a bad start and come from behind to win the game. "Australia were 400 for five on the first day of the Test. But Kumble kept plugging in and managed five or six wickets in the innings. Everyone keeps talking about the magnificient partnership between Dravid and Laxman but to me, India couldn't have won without Kumble's bowling."

Chappell said it was never easy to take 20 wickets on tracks such as the one in Lahore or in Faisalabad.