India set for life in the fast lane

For everything India have achieved as a cricketing nation, their inability to produce quality fast bowlers has long been considered their achilles heel.

While brilliant batsmen and talented spinners have continually rolled off the production line, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, and to a lesser extent Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, are India's only significant contributions to the world of fast bowling.

It has meant that while India have historically been dominant on spin-friendly wickets at home, they have won just 26 of the 186 Tests they have played outside the sub-continent.

Even MS Dhoni's current side, who were ranked No.1 in the world for almost two years, has struggled outside of India, with their recent victory at Lord's their first away from home in 15 Tests.

But that could be set to change with India assembling an impressive group of young quicks that has the potential to lead them passed the final frontier – a Test series win in Australia.

Leading the charge is the talented yet unpredictable Ishant Sharma, who is still just 25-years-old despite having 57 Tests and 174 wickets to his name.

Long considered the saviour of Indian fast bowling, Sharma gave a glimpse of his enormous ability with a match-winning haul of 7-74 against England last month.

Alongside Sharma are 24-year-old swing bowlers Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, plus injury-plagued speedster Varun Aaron, also 24, who made headlines in 2011 when he hit 153 kph in an Indian domestic match.

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Then there is the solidly-built Pankaj Singh, who claimed an unwanted record on his Test debut against England last week, conceding the most runs by a bowler who has gone wicketless in his first Test.

Despite returning figures of 0-179 in Southampton, Pankaj was arguably India's best performer in a disappointing match for the tourists and could play his second Test at Old Trafford this week.

One man who was impressed by Pankaj is former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who saw enough to be convinced that the 29-year-old's luck will turn later in the series.

Despite a poor showing at the Ageas Bowl, Gillespie says India finally have the depth and variety of fast bowlers needed to win regular games of Test cricket.

"One thing India has is a group of seamers that they can rely on to get the job done and contribute to taking 20 wickets," Gillespie told cricket.com.au.

"At the end of the day, Test cricket is all about how you can take 20 wickets.

"You can score as many runs as you want but unless you can take wickets, you're never going to win a Test match.

"It's important that teams get their bowling attacks right.

"How India use those seamers ... is essentially up to them, but they've got a good mix of lads who swing the ball, lads who hit the track hard and lads who bowl with pace.

"They're the ingredients they need."

But beware of false prophets.

The past decade of Indian cricket is littered with fast bowlers who quickly fell off the radar after a promising start to their career.

Heading that list is Praveen Kumar, who took 27 wickets in six Tests in 2011 before troubles on and off the field led to a drop in form and probably the end of his international career.

Indian fans have also witnessed the short-lived careers of left-armers Irfan Pathan and RP Singh, medium-pacer Munaf Patel and the volatile Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, who was handed a life ban by the BCCI in 2013 for his role in a spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League.

Critics would add Sharma's name to that list, with the lanky right-armer yet to live up to the high standards he set during a memorable series in Australia in 2008.

But Gillespie, currently head coach at Yorkshire, is confident the current crop of fast men can make an impact in both the current series against England and their tour of Australia this summer.

India's last trip to Australia was a disaster, with only Zaheer and Umesh Yadav making inroads with the ball as the tourists crashed to a 4-0 series defeat.

Yadav could yet make an appearance this summer, but he may struggle to force his way into an attack that Gillespie believes will find Australian conditions to their liking.

But the 39-year-old warns that India's impressive pace battery is not a guarantee of success away from home.

"India's trouble has always been travel and being on the road in Test cricket," Gillespie said.

"(They have) a fast-bowling attack that gives them those varying options and it's backed up ... (by) a good spin-bowling attack.

"Their fast bowlers can bring different skills to the table (and they) will be good in Australia, where naturally the ball does tend to bounce and carry a bit more and offers a little bit of assistance early in the game.

"But India don't travel well and they have to find a method and a way to be successful away. Otherwise it's going to be a long summer for them."