Ishan Porel shows what he can do with fast and intense spells

The third fast bowler in a three-pronged pace attack is perhaps as important as the first two, but can fly under the radar. Ishan Porel can certainly relate to that, having played the supporting act to Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep at Bengal over the past three seasons.

Now, with Mukesh away with the Indian team and Deep elevated to spearhead status, Porel is in line for a significantly bigger role at Bengal. But that's six months into the future, given the Ranji Trophy doesn't start until early January.

And if you've been as injury-prone as Porel has, you start looking at every game as a blessing. On Friday, in the Duleep Trophy, Porel showed all the qualities of a leader of a bowling attack.

His spell an hour into play on the third day of the quarterfinal against Central Zone was among the reasons why East Zone are chasing 300 and not more. That they're struggling at 69 for 6 is another matter altogether.

East needed their bowlers to step up after Central began the day on 64 without loss, ahead by 124. They should have had Himanshu Mantri late on Thursday; Porel had him chop on off a front foot no-ball. And when Central added 60 in the first hour on Friday without losing a wicket, the signs were ominous.

Porel wasn't brought in until after drinks, and he bowled Vivek Singh in his second over. He got a length ball to rear up and Vivek got a thick bottom edge onto the stumps to end a 124-run opening stand.

Porel was steaming in, perhaps knowing he was going to be used in short spells. It helped that Abhimanyu Easwaran, who he plays with in first-class cricket, was his captain. He bent his back and hit hard lengths, mixing them up with full ones to challenge the inside and outside edges of both batters. His first spell read 4-3-1-1.

With the old ball reversing after lunch, and East having struck two blows quickly, Porel went on a full-blown attack. He had a short midwicket and short square leg in place and had Upendra Yadav playing for survival as he kept attacking the stumps. Then, Porel slipped one outside off. It was one of those rare deliveries that wasn't in line with the stumps, or so Upendra thought as he half-heartedly nudged forward. The ball cut back in quickly to trap him lbw as he played down the wrong line.

Next ball, he instructed cover to move to second slip for the left-handed Saurabh Kumar, inviting the batter to drive. Saurabh pushed outside the line of a delivery that Porel managed to tail back in through some late reverse. The moment he was struck on the pad, he was stone dead. Porel's spell read 4-1-8-2 and his overall figures were 12-4-15-3.

Each of his three spells were just four overs long, but had enough signs of a bowler in full throttle, exhibiting skill and control over his body and mind. He seemed extremely different to the injury-ridden bowler who seemed guarded and circumspect last year.

Porel did not play the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy because of chickenpox. When he regained fitness for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia. He dropped seven kilos in two weeks, and as he recovered from that setback, Porel realised he could barely bowl spells lasting two overs.

He needed to do plenty of work to get ready for the Ranji Trophy. But even before bowling a ball, he had to not just regain lost strength but also confidence. In his comeback game, the Ranji opener against Uttar Pradesh, Porel took a match-winning 7 for 105. It was the start of an injury-free period, which didn't yield extraordinary returns - 27 wickets at an average of 25.40 - but allowed him to regain confidence.

With a new World Test Championship cycle beginning, and India beginning a transition phase, the selectors will be keen to identify back-ups for Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. For now, it's Mukesh and Navdeep Saini. But more performances like the one on Friday, could help Porel stake his claim too.