India-New Zealand series: Can Adam do to India what Mitchell Johnson did to England?

Napier: Only last month Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson made English batsmen jump all over the batting crease with his pace and perfumed deliveries which saw his side white washed England 5-0 in Ashes. Now Adam Milne has been the talk of New Zealand cricket ever since he whistled the ball past West Indian bats at Eden Park five days ago.There is also the talk if this 21 years old guy will do the same to Indian batsmen, known suspects against genuine fast bowling, what Mitchell did to England…?The debate is whether Adam should be rushed into the test team to play India. He has been included in ODI squad though. New Zealand don't have a strong belief in thrusting young players into the test team, certainly nothing to compare with, say, Pakistan and other sub-continental countries where an attitude of "if he's good enough, he's old enough" applies.Dan Vettori, Martin Crowe, Ken Rutherford, Tim Southee and, from earlier generations, Martin Donnelly, John Beck, Vic Pollard, Graeme Vivian and Brendon Bracewell were given their first cap before turning 20. But they were exceptions.Milne made his debut at 18 against Pakistan in 2010.It wasn't a success, but last Saturday, as he clicked over 150km/h, it was possible to see fresh, cheering possibilities for New Zealand."Yeah, I was pretty stoked with it," Milne said of his sizzling display at Eden Park. "I guess I was pretty happy to see some fast balls in there, but it's not everything I guess."Milne reckons he has bowled faster at other times in his still fledgling career, "but it feels pretty good at the moment".He feels more comfortable in the national team setup than in his early days, which is understandable. And he realises he needs to have decent control allied to his pace - "if you bowl in the wrong areas it's going to go the distance".He has no regrets at being thrust in early. Before Saturday, Milne had taken just two wickets in 10 limited-overs internationals, but lessons have been learnt."It helped me a lot in producing what I've become today and hopefully what I will become in the future," he said.Milne is eyeing 160km/h, but acknowledged exactly how fast he can go is "the million dollar question"."I'm not sure that's in my realm, but I'd love to get to 160."West Indian captain Dwayne Bravo yesterday echoed the remarks of India's captain MS Dhoni on Monday, when asked about facing someone capable of exceeding 150km/h."It's something we're used to," Bravo said. "It's normal for us, nothing we're not used to. In this format pace doesn't really matter, it's more skill."

India-New Zealand series: Can Adam do to India what Mitchell Johnson did to England?

Napier: Only last month Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson made English batsmen jump all over the batting crease with his pace and perfumed deliveries which saw his side white washed England 5-0 in Ashes. Now

Top News

Senior IAS officer Lokhande Prashant Sitaram appointed new CBSE chief amid OSM row: Who is he?

Karnataka: Priyank Kharge, Siddaramaiah's son among others to take oath with DK Shivakumar today

Firing reported outside Khan Sir's coaching centre in Patna, police rush to spot, probe underway

R Ashwin slams five-time IPL champions for dismal auction strategy after subpar season