Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Amit Mishra took 19 of the 20 wickets India took against South Africa in the first Test at Mohali. It was after quite a long time that India fielded three frontline spinners of the off-break, leg-break, and left-arm variety in the same Test innings. While comparisons would be premature and entirely baseless at the moment, there is no denying that the thought of Bishan Bedi, EAS Prasanna, and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar bowling together inadvertently popped to mind. Given that the fourth possible spinner is likely to be Harbhajan Singh (another off-spinner, much like Srinivas Venkataraghavan) the similarities continue. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st Test at Mohali
Another similarity with India’s bygone era of Test cricket was that the spinners — apart from taking a bulk of the wickets — also far out-bowled the pacers in terms of number of overs bowled. India has infamously lacked quality pace bowlers over the years, and have resorted to opening bowling with Sunil Gavaskar and ML Jaisimha, even wicketkeeper Budhi Kunderan, on occasions due to the lack of quick bowlers. While India’s case was not so dire on this occasion, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav were largely supporting characters who could just as easily have been done away with.
India have always had spinners of some repute who often did the bulk of the bowling. The likes of Vinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed, and Subhash Gupte, were the first trinity of spinners who dominated India’s Test bowling. Mankad’s left-arm spin, Ahmed’s off-spin, and Gupte’s leg-spin tided India over while their not-insubstantial pace attack had off days.
In the mid-1990s, too, when Anil Kumble ran rout at home with his somewhat unusual leg-spin, he was often aided by the left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju and off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan. When India won the Wankhede Test against Australia in 2004-05 (they defended 107), Kumble and Harbhajan were duly complemented by Murali Kartik. The trio took 18 wickets, and Zaheer Khan was the only specialist seamer. When Sourav Ganguly was a regular, India have gone in with three spinners several times, with Ganguly taking new ball against the wind.
By the time Bedi, Prasanna, and Chandra started playing together, India’s pace attack was almost nonexistent. Kapil Dev would burst onto the scene much later, and it was in this era that Gavaskar opened bowling (luckily not regularly) for India. There was one major difference between this trinity and the three bowlers who played the Mohali Test against South Africa though; Bedi, Prasanna, and Chandra were irreplaceable in the side both home and away. This current team is unlikely to go in with even two spinners, much less three, in overseas conditions.
There are differences in the bowlers themselves, but also a few similarities; Prasanna was the portly off-spinner who relied on outthinking the batsman in flight and subtle variations in spin. Ashwin too relies less on flight and turn, and is also adept at fooling batsmen. The major difference lies in the trajectory; with Ashwin’s height helping him get much more bounce than Prasanna. Ashwin is also the clear leader of the spin attack. READ: EAS Prasanna: The off-spinning magician!
Then there was Bedi, the master tactician with a beautiful action whose strength was a nagging line and length with varying levels of flight and turn. Jadeja, the corresponding left-arm spinner, relies on similarly troublesome accuracy while sending down faster balls at a much flatter arc. However, Bedi’s mastery over the craft of left-arm spin far outstrips Jadeja. That said, Jadeja’s recent bowling form would impress even Bedi. READ: Bishan Singh Bedi: The man who turned left-arm spin bowling into a fine art
Finally, the two leg-spinners: Chandra and Mishra. Herein lies the major difference. Chandra was the maverick who could bowl one terrible spell and follow it up with a match-winning one, both in the same session. He was mentally tough, bowled quicker than Bedi and Prasanna, and often got huge turn. Mishra resembles Prasanna more in physicality, and is a classical leg-spinner rather than a freak of nature. He relies on flight and turn to get wickets, but has a tendency to look deflated once the batsmen take him on successfully. READ: Bhagwat Chandrasekhar: The man who turned his disability into a lethal weapon
It is still too early to compare Ashwin, Jadeja, and Mishra with Prasanna, Bedi, and Chandra, but the very fact that India are playing with three bowlers with distinct styles is a throwback to earlier days in India’s Test cricket history. They might not play together very much, but for now all those following Indian Test cricket will enjoy a glimpse of history.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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