Who will touch even 140 kph mark is a thing to ponder...(written on Oct 25, when the 1st ODI between India-Australia was on...)

I cannot remember the last time I saw any Indian pacer
bowling or even touching 140kph consistently. It is so hard to
believe that a country which is mad about cricket, and has
abundance of talent cannot produce a bowler who can bowl around
150kph mark.
If we just check the bowling speeds of the current speedsters (if
they really are) of the Indian side then it will be hard to find anyone
touching the mid 130's consistently. Praveen Kumar hardly goes above
130 mark while Ashish Nehra, though bowling best among the players
taking the field regularly, is only the shadow of his former self
now.
Those who watched him bowling in the 2003 World Cup in
South Africa cannot forget how closely he missed touching the
150kph mark in the game against Zimbabwe and England. But now he is
six years older and making a comeback in the side after a gap of
four years, so it's understandable that he is concentrating on line and
length more than hitting the deck hard.
Ishant Sharma, who impressed one and all with his pace and
accuracy in his debut test series against Australia, is surely short
of confidence and out of form lately. Though he tried to bowl in the
right areas in the first game of the ongoing India-Australia series,
he never looked to threaten the batsmen and his average speed was around 135kph.
This is the case with most of our young bowlers--Sudeep Tyagi,
Pradeep Sangwan, Ashok Dinda etc.—who are either on the fringe of
getting selected or have already played for the country.
Has India ever produced any quality fast bowler and I mean
'fast' and not a medium pacer? Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh
Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla, all remained genuine medium pacers throughout
their careers. While Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth were just
as quick as their predecessors, only Ishant Sharma touched
150kph a few time early on in his career (he still is 21 and has an
experience of hardly two years).
It always brings a chuckle on my face whenever I think about
Munaf Patel. Once considered as the fastest bowler in the country
Munaf now hardly goes above 130kph mark. Though he has become more
consistent now but where has the speed gone? He too has remained
injury-prone like many of his other colleagues. But is it correct to
bring down the pace so much and forget what you were once regarded
as? A genuine prospect who can bowl quick and rattle the batsmen on
a consistent basis. But that thing is completely missing in Munaf
now.
I also think that many of our pacers start their careers as fast bowlers, as they have to prove a point or two to everyone but with time and more matches their pace decreases. Injury is also a major factor behind the dropping pace. Ian Bishop and Correy Collimore
of West Indies , Sri Lankan Chaminda Vass, and in recent times Shane
Bond from New Zealand are examples who sacrificed a few kilometers
of speed to prolong their careers.
But there are other examples as well, who, irrespective of their
injury layoffs bowled with the same pace and rhythm. First such
example that comes to my mind is Brett Lee.
He has bowled around 150kph mark or above throughout his career. He
was a threat even when he made his debut against India in 1999 and he still
is the fastest and most accurate bowler around. Another, though
controversial name, is Shoaib Akhtar. He has been out of the team n
number of times because of an injury but bowled as quickly as he could
after each comeback. It's because he did not want to forget his
identity or why people call him 'Rawalpindi Express'.
In Indian cricket things work in a different way. After the
initial burst, Indian bowlers lose pace with time and experience.
For them, being in the side and getting 'fat cheques' are more
important than remembering their identities. They know that if they just
stick in the side for a few years, they can earn for a lifetime. They forget the only reason for which they are playing the game.