State duo gear up for pace safari

Sep 05, 2011 - Arun George |

Kochi

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The Kerala cricket team is set to begin its historic tour of South Africa on Friday and two promising young fast bowlers are really excited about the opportunity of bowling on the revered pace bowling wickets in the country

Anthaf P.U. and Niyas Nizar, two young quickies in the State side is set to swing the cherry alongside Prasanth Parameswaran when the team starts its 21-day tour at Johannesburg as a preparation for the upcoming Ranji season.

“I have never travelled outside India and it will be a great opportunity. Our State team has been doing really great recently and we believe with such exposure we have a greater chance of making it to the Elite Group of the Ranji next season,” said Anthaf.

Anthaf and his bowling partner Niyas, both right-arm medium pacers have had a prolific season for the State.

“Being the new generation of Keral cricket, we have a great responsibility upon us. Our senior players are highly supportive, be it Sony (Cheruvathur), Sreesanth or Puli (Parameswaran),” said Niyas, who trains at the MRF Pace Foundation.

Both the pacers were instrumental in the State’s triumph at the D.V. Subbarao Trophy at Anantapur. While Anthaf impressed with his four-wicket in the final match against Madhya Pradesh, Niyas was brilliant with his two five-wicket hauls in the tournament.

“McGrath’s accuracy is legendary and he will be every fast bowler’s favourite. I am also a fan of Sreesanth, Brett Lee and Javagal Srinath because of their on-field aggression and hunger for wickets,” said Niyas, who first hit the limelight due to his performance in the Emerging Players Tour-nament against India A in 2009.

Niyas, who hails from T-hiruvananthapuram believes the fitness training he gets from the Pace Foundation has helped him in increasing his speed. On the other hand, Ernakulam lad Anthaf has cut down on the pace to be more accurate.

Surely, the tour will give these boys a first hand experience of bowling at a wicket where Sreesanth shone with a five-wicket haul during India’s 2006 tour of SA.

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