India should turn back to spin
Shivaji Sengupta - 2 May 2002
Taking the field with three pace bowlers in the third Test at
Bridgetown seems to be a foregone conclusion. The pitch is
expected to be faster than the wickets encountered thus far in
the series. India did same thing in 1997, going in with Venkatesh
Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla and Dodda Ganesh, and they almost won. The
trio taking most of the wickets; Anil Kumble took only one. So
why not go with the same formula, since the wicket is likely to
behave similarly.
But I feel - pretty strongly - that Anil Kumble should be chosen
instead of Zaheer Khan. This does not say anything against the
fast bowler; he did pretty well in Trinidad and has a bright
future. But India need Kumble's experience, especially if the
West Indies bat last in Barbados.
With Kumble's fastish leg-breaks at Bridgetown, I think Javagal
Srinath and Ashish Nehra will be able to make an even bigger
impact on the opposition. On a deteriorating pitch, it would be
to India's advantage to have both Kumble and Harbhajan in the
side, harassing the Caribbean batsman with more than just pace.
It should be remembered here that Brian Lara didn't exactly seem
comfortable against Harbhajan Singh in the second innings of the
Trinidad Test. Assuming that Srinath and Nehra will again bowl
true to plan, Sourav Ganguly may want to have available enough
spin variety to keep the West Indian batsmen off balance.
Kumble's experience in taking 318 Test wickets should also not be
discounted out of hand.
In the batting department, the problems are less complicated.
Sanjay Bangar has played himself out of the team, and since Ajay
Ratra played only once - and didn't keep wicket too badly - it
would be unfair to send him back to the bench. Wasim Jaffer
should get the chance, even as India keep trying to experiment
with the opening combination. Ever since those famous matches
with Australia in early 2001, India - like their counterpart in
the Caribbean - have been groping for a reliable opening pair.
I am also slightly concerned with the sudden loss of form of Shiv
Sunder Das. This is the same batsman who had batted with, if not
aplomb then at least with reliability, in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and
South Africa. Here, against the Windies, he seems to have come
completely unglued against raw pace. There will be more of the
same to come when India visit England, and Das needs to show that
his loss of form is purely temporary, or it will be back to the
drawing board for Indian selectors.
Finally, a sentence or so about Dinesh Mongia. What a fine
batsman he is, serving the country well time and time again. With
the middle-order more than solid at the moment, though, it is a
pity that batsmen like Mongia and Virender Sehwag have to be
content playing for India only in one-day internationals.
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