A lot of talk has been doing the rounds about India’s fast bowling resources and how depleted they are. But do we have anything to boast about in the spin department? The fact is India’s spin cupboard is as bare as the fast bowling cupboard.
Harbhajan Singh has represented India for over a decade now, but ever since Anil Kumble called it quits, Harbhajan prowess has seen a downswing. His performance has been paltry in the last year or so and his record is only ratification of that. Despite getting the occasional five-fors, he has got his line and length entirely wrong. His trajectory is increasingly flat; the pace of his deliveries is
increasing and the turn reducing. His doosra, which once turned square, now fails to even hold its line.
The line, too, starts on middle and leg and the drift seems to have gone adrift, making him extremely predictable. It could be the effect of T20 cricket, but that isn’t one expects from a spinner who was once world class.
Today, Harbhajan fails to take wickets even on absolute dust bowls. Compare him to Graeme Swann and you can tell, Swann does exactly what Harbhajan doesn’t. For me, if Harbhajan wouldn’t have had the aura of his glory years, he would struggle to find a place in the current
Indian line-up, let alone retain one.
Ravichandran Ashwin made his place in the Indian line-up after a string of brilliant domestic and IPL performances under captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s radar. Ashwin is the middle ground between Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar. His uncanny similarity to Srinivasan Venkatraghvan is evident and so are his wicket-taking abilities. However, Ashwin hasn’t yet been tried at the Test level. But at 24, Ashwin has age on side.
What makes Ashwin so difficult to handle in the limited-overs format is his ability to vary length and change his pace adeptly. Also, the occasional pause in his delivery stride injects an element allows of surprise that disconcerts the batsmen.
There is both promise and potential in Ashwin, which could become a
force to reckon with as he gathers experience.
Ramesh Powar, a classical off-spinner, has long gone past his expiry date. He got a fair few chances on the international circuit but failed to establish himself. Powar had a lot of things going for him at that point in time, but, his inability to get bounce out of the surface was his greatest undoing. Also, Harbhajan was playing perfect foil to Kumble then. Powar, by nature, is an attacking off-spinner and hence could not perform the support role to great effect. Having said this, Powar has a better strike-rate than Harbhajan in all first-class games including One-Day Internationals.
Powar did get his opportunities, but fitness was always his undoing and he was subsequently dropped in 2007. Powar is now into his 30s and his chances of donning the national colours look anything but bleak.
(Vinay Anand, 17, has an uncanny eye for detail. He revers cricket - looking beyond the glamour into the heart of the game where true passion, perseverance and grit meet. To him, there is no greater joy than coming closer to the sport while exploring its intricacies through his writing and treading ahead to establish himself as a writer and presenter)
Harbhajan Singh has represented India for over a decade now, but ever since Anil Kumble called it quits, Harbhajan prowess has seen a downswing. His performance has been paltry in the last year or so and his record is only ratification of that. Despite getting the occasional five-fors, he has got his line and length entirely wrong. His trajectory is increasingly flat; the pace of his deliveries is
increasing and the turn reducing. His doosra, which once turned square, now fails to even hold its line.
The line, too, starts on middle and leg and the drift seems to have gone adrift, making him extremely predictable. It could be the effect of T20 cricket, but that isn’t one expects from a spinner who was once world class.
Today, Harbhajan fails to take wickets even on absolute dust bowls. Compare him to Graeme Swann and you can tell, Swann does exactly what Harbhajan doesn’t. For me, if Harbhajan wouldn’t have had the aura of his glory years, he would struggle to find a place in the current
Indian line-up, let alone retain one.
Ravichandran Ashwin made his place in the Indian line-up after a string of brilliant domestic and IPL performances under captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s radar. Ashwin is the middle ground between Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar. His uncanny similarity to Srinivasan Venkatraghvan is evident and so are his wicket-taking abilities. However, Ashwin hasn’t yet been tried at the Test level. But at 24, Ashwin has age on side.
What makes Ashwin so difficult to handle in the limited-overs format is his ability to vary length and change his pace adeptly. Also, the occasional pause in his delivery stride injects an element allows of surprise that disconcerts the batsmen.
There is both promise and potential in Ashwin, which could become a
force to reckon with as he gathers experience.
Ramesh Powar, a classical off-spinner, has long gone past his expiry date. He got a fair few chances on the international circuit but failed to establish himself. Powar had a lot of things going for him at that point in time, but, his inability to get bounce out of the surface was his greatest undoing. Also, Harbhajan was playing perfect foil to Kumble then. Powar, by nature, is an attacking off-spinner and hence could not perform the support role to great effect. Having said this, Powar has a better strike-rate than Harbhajan in all first-class games including One-Day Internationals.
Powar did get his opportunities, but fitness was always his undoing and he was subsequently dropped in 2007. Powar is now into his 30s and his chances of donning the national colours look anything but bleak.
(Vinay Anand, 17, has an uncanny eye for detail. He revers cricket - looking beyond the glamour into the heart of the game where true passion, perseverance and grit meet. To him, there is no greater joy than coming closer to the sport while exploring its intricacies through his writing and treading ahead to establish himself as a writer and presenter)
