Dearth of quality spinners

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

BANGALORE, MARCH 4. The ball thudded onto Sadiq Mohammad's helmet and a surprised slip-cordon consisting of Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath exchanged smiles with wicket-keeper, Syed Kirmani. The famed spin quartet's halycon days were drawing to a close and Kapil Dev had arrived.

Ever since Test cricket's highest wicket-taker made his debut on a balmy day at Faisalabad in October' 1978, Indian cricket has suffered from schizophrenia when it comes to spin. And with just one quality spinner - Anil Kumble - emerging from Kapil's shadow, things have got only worse.

The current second Test against South Africa at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium reiterated the dearth of quality spinners in a country famous for spin. The pitch was ideal for the spin doctors yet India added statistical muscle to the South African total.

Anil Kumble bowled 67 overs, scalped five wickets, eased into the 275-wicket mark but a frown still lingered on his face. It must have been galling for the leg-spinner to realise that the Proteas may end India's spin engineered halo. His support cast - Murali Karthik and Nikhil Chopra - were found wanting and the visitors have now secured a 314-run first innings lead.

Old timers may recall the exploits of Bishen Singh Bedi, B.S. Chandrashekar, E.A.S. Prasanna and S. Venkatraghavan but the present fails to evoke hope. ``With more one-dayers, spinners worry about a restrictive line rather than getting wickets. Our first class cricket also suffers with top players staying away. So there is no yardstick for evaluating our spin talent,'' said former India leg-spinner B.S. Chandrashekar.

The Eighties did have those flickers of talent but pathos was at arms length. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan's 12-wicket debut at Bombay soon getting smothered in a run-glut unleashed by England's Tim Robinson, Graeme Flower and Mike Gatting at Chennai ... Maninder Singh's impish run towards Kiran More losing its zing as Graham Gooch swept England in to the Reliance World Cup final... .However the Nineties ushered in home victories after coach Ajit Wadekar implemented his `pitch-should-aid-spin' policy.

It worked against England, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka but the South Africans relish blinking against fate and India is now staring down its fifth successive defeat.

Doctoring pitches may no longer yield results besides as Chandrashekar said, ``a good bowler should get wickets irrespective of the conditions.''

Solutions ought to be found. ``We should have a spin academy and people like Prasanna and Bedi should be part of it,'' said Kirmani. Meanwhile a 13-year old undefeated home record threatens to vanish.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : South Africa in unassailable position
Next     : Champagne time for South African players