Indian fast bowling's three-card trick

India's first series win in England in 21 years came largely on the back of a team performance, with Man of the Series, Zaheer Khan being first among equals. While the spotlight fell on Zaheer, fellow left-armer RP Singh also impressed in his role as the third fast bowler in the attack - and it's no coincidence that his performance in that role had a direct bearing on the overall result.

Coming in as first-change RP Singh picked up ten wickets in the first two Tests, including a five-for in England's second innings at Lord's. In fact, he didn't bowl first-change during his unimpressive match-haul of 2 for 122 in the final Test at The Oval, as captain Rahul Dravid brought him on only after Anil Kumble replaced one of the opening bowlers.

RP Singh's success as first-change bowler underlined a statistical truth - that India perform better away from home when the two strike bowlers have a good support act.

The first three bowlers listed in the table helped seal rare series victories away from home. Syed Abid Ali may have only picked up six wickets - five as first-change - in India's first away series triumph, but an economy rate below 2 per over indicated that he tied up the runs at one end. Ali's role, though, was more about backing up the three spinners - Erapalli Prasanna, Bapu Nadkarni and Bishan Bedi, rather than new-ball bowlers.

Chetan Sharma was India's hero in their emphatic 1986 series victory in England. Sharma missed the second of the three Tests at Headingley, but his tally of 16 wickets at Lord's and Birmingham was more than the 12 that the opening bowlers - Kapil Dev and Roger Binny - could manage. Sharma bagged a five-for each in the two Tests, and a ten-wicket match haul in the drawn Test at Birmingham - the only one by an Indian bowler in England.

RP Singh's performance must also be judged by the batsmen he dismissed. He accounted for England's key batsmen - Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan - in nearly half their stints at the crease, dismissing Pietersen thrice and Vaughan twice.

RP Singh's five-for at Lord's may have come in a draw, but the manner in which he ran through England's middle-order definitely must have given a boost to the team ahead of Trent Bridge. In the second Test, Pietersen was the target man for RP Singh. He trapped him in front of the stumps in both innings, bowling around the wicket. The second dismissal was reminiscent of Wasim Akram - the ball pitched well outside the off stump but then it sharply jagged back in. Pietersen, who'd shaped to leave it, was plumb in front and didn't even wait for the umpire's decision.

The performance of these three bowlers is in sharp contrast to India's traditionally frail first-change bowling, the third seamer invariably failing to support the opening bowlers duo. The following table compares India's opening and first-change fast bowlers over the years. One clarification though: our records consider Sourav Ganguly as a pace bowler.

India's recent tour of South Africa is a good example of where the new-ball bowlers - Sreesanth and Zaheer - bowled well in tandem, taking 31 wickets at 25.48 in the three-Test series. However, VRV Singh, India's first-change bowler in the first two Tests, managed only three wickets in the 44.1 overs he bowled. He averaged 66.33 per wicket but, more significantly, conceded 4.5 runs per over in contrast to the 3.4 given by the opening bowlers. In fact, in the deciding Test of the series at Cape Town, Dravid brought on Kumble ahead of fast bowler Munaf Patel in both innings. India went on the lose the match and the series.

Over ten years ago, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad formed a potent attack, especially on the tours of England and South Africa. However, their efforts were sidelined by support seamers unable to sustain the pressure on the opposition.