The Hindu : Sport : A severe test of skill and temperament

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 05, 2004

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Sport

A severe test of skill and temperament

By S. Dinakar

A batsman will have to adjust his technique on pitches that assist spinners, says Ajit Wadekar

MUMBAI, NOV. 4. A surface of brownish hue, the ball hissing off the pitch and turning at right angles, a ring of close-in fielders hovering around the bat in eager anticipation, vociferous shouts of `howzzat' breaking the hush that precedes the deliveries, and then the mayhem in the stands as the batsman is finally consumed. Welcome to cricketing scenes with a truly sub-continental flavour, where spin is king.

Here the battles are not won easily, and a cricketer's skill and temperament are often put to the most severe of tests, as the ball grips the pitch and then spins and bounces viciously, into the batsman or away from him, kissing his bat, pad, gloves, or more than one of them. Pressure mounts with every delivery and those who can hold their nerve are the ones who survive.

For the visiting batsmen, the second day of the fourth Test, after the Australian bowlers had made short work of the Indian batsmen, was their most difficult one yet on the tour, in terms of lasting on a treacherous wicket. On a wicket such as this, batting can appear a form of Russian Roulette — if

this delivery does not get you, the next one might. Since the pressure on them is considerable, with their tenure at the wicket uncertain, the harried batsmen, on occasions, resort to desperate measures that are often fatal.

Vicious spin

There was sufficient evidence of the vicious spin on the Wankhede Stadium pitch when debutant off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, who does not quite have the reputation of being a big spinner, achieved huge turn to leave the Indian lower order a touch startled.

Then the Indian spinners with Anil Kumble and Murali Kartik, striking in tandem, had the Australian batsmen, save Damien Martyn, whose ability to play the ball late and with soft hands are his great allies, in considerable difficulty.

Said former India captain Ajit Wadekar, "on a rank tuner, a batsman will have to adjust his technique. He will have to wait and punish the loose ball, and not allow it to develop into a good ball. Your strokes become restricted and what you require are patience and staying power. A big-

turning pitch cannot be a fast track, so you first go on to the back foot, this way you get more time, and assess how much it turns. According to this, you then adjust your footwork and strokes. Then you have to be quick in your footwork."

And the man who skippered the legendary Indian spin quartet in the 70s says, "on such a pitch, a bowler has to land it on the spot and leave everything to the wicket. He doesn't have to bring about much variations, he doesn't have to be very innovative, and he has to extract as much as possible from the surface. In the process of trying out different things, he might give away a lot of runs."

Dramatic decider

Here, it would be worthwhile to travel back to that dramatic decider at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which ended a long sequence of draws in the India-Pakistan Test series of 1986-87.

As the cricket caravan moved to Bangalore, it was clear that the winner would take it all on a pitch that was a minefield. On day one, left-armer Maninder Singh did the star turn for India with seven for 27 as Pakistan was shot out for 116. India managed only a lead of 29, and the course the match took from here, reveals the wisdom of Wadekar's words.

The Indian spinners experimented far too much in the second innings and Pakistan finally managed to set a target of 221, a huge ask on a spinners' paradise. And when the Indians chased, Sunil Gavaskar with an exceptional amalgam of technique, temperament, and cricketing acumen, faced 264 balls, to carve out a masterly 96; it was a blend of judicious defence and copybook strokeplay of the highest order by the legend in his last Test innings.

Imran Khan's Pakistan, though, went on to register a historic series win, with the left arm spin-off-spin combination of Iqbal Qasim, recalled for the business end of the series, and Tauseef Ahmed, bowling their side to a victory in a thrilling finish, by just adhering to the basics of line and length.

There are lessons to be learnt for India from that epic Test from the past, ahead of the crucial third day of the ongoing contest that has the portents for an interesting finish.

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