Published: Jun 04, 2011, 02:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 20, 2014, 11:45 PM (IST)
By Nishad Pai Vaidya
The Indian team has embarked upon the tour to the West Indies without some of the most well known names in their ranks. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan will not feature in the limited-overs segment of the West Indies tour. India would be fielding an inexperienced batting line-up which is why the bowlers have to rise to the occasion and make their performances count.
If India are to beat West Indies in the One Day International (ODI) series then their bowling line-up comprising Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Vinay Kumar have to step up and deliver match-winning performances. The absence of Zaheer Khan means that Munaf will have to shoulder the responsibility of leading the pace attack. However, its the performance of the off-spinners, Ashwin and Harbhajan, that could prove decisive for India’s success. In all probability, India may opt to play just one of either Ashwin or Harbhajan which is why Yusuf Pathan, the bowler may have to come to the fore.
The above hypothesis is based on the success of the Pakistani off-spinners in the West Indies during their recently-concluded tour. Saeed Ajmal had one of his best international tours till date as he kept teasing the batsmen with his flight, doosras and other variations. Mohammed Hafeez also had his fair share of success against the Caribbean batsmen. He was very effective with his faster deliveries that zipped through the batsmen before they could judge its pace.
The fact that Mohammed Hafeez was brought on early in almost all the games showed that the West Indies top order is not very comfortable playing off-spin. It was a ploy by the Pakistan team management to get rid of Devon Smith who fell to Hafeez in every game he participated in the series. Even though Devon Smith is not a part of the West Indies squad that will face India, using off-spin upfront may still be the way to go.
Ajmal and Hafeez not only picked up crucial wickets but were also able to check the West Indies scoring rate. Here are their bowling analysis in the five-match ODI series:
| Name |
1st ODI |
2nd ODI |
3rd ODI |
4th ODI |
5th ODI |
| Ajmal |
10-2-24-1 |
10-3-23-2 |
8.4-0-29-3 |
4-0-16-0 |
7-0-33-0 |
| Hafeez |
10-2-36-1 |
10-0-38-2 |
9-0-31-2 |
6-0-26-1 |
2-0-10-0 |
The first three ODIs were won by Pakistan and it was mainly because of the way Hafeez and Ajmal bowled. Their figures indicate that they were able to strangle the scoring rate and make life difficult for the West Indies batsmen. In fact, this is not a new phenomenon as they picked up four West Indies batsmen amongst themselves in the World Cup Quarter-final encounter between the two countries in March this year. This has just highlighted the fact that off-spin can be a very potent weapon against West Indies batsmen more so because Chris Gayle is not a part of their setup.
On most occasions Hafeez was used very early into the innings to stop the flow of runs and if possible pick up a wicket. India can look at Ashwin to do that job but if he is not a part of the eleven then Yusuf Pathan can be used. Both Ashwin and Pathan bowl the quicker off spinner very well which was Hafeez’s main weapon against the top order.
Harbhajan can do Ajmal’s job, although he does not turn the ball as much as he used to in his younger days. Ajmal would usually bowl in the middle overs after Hafeez and the fast bowlers had applied the brakes. Harbhajan should try to do what Ajmal did – that is, bowl the flighted deliveries and mix it up with the doosras.
The Pakistan team has exposed West Indies’ weakness against off-spin and used it to their advantage as they clinched the ODI series 3-2 and drew the Test series 1-1. India are sending a weak team to the Caribbean and thus the off-spinners in the squad have to play an even bigger role if they are to win the series. If Ashwin and Harbhajan are not played in the same eleven, then the role of Pathan as a bowler becomes even more important.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 20-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.”)
