SPORTS
 Spinning a web
Spinners have emerged as a fearsome force as the recent India-England Tests have shown
M. S. Unnikrishnan

In the first Test, the Englishmen were clueless against Pragyan Ojha (centre) and R. Ashwin's (right) bowling. The duo claimed 13 wickets — nine and four apiece
In the first Test, the Englishmen were clueless against Pragyan Ojha (centre) and R. Ashwin's (right) bowling. The duo claimed 13 wickets — nine and four apiece Photo: PTI

England spinners Monty Paneswar (left) and Grame Swann between themselves captured all 10 Indian wickets to guide England to a 10-wicket win
England spinners Monty Paneswar (left) and Grame Swann between themselves captured all 10 Indian wickets to guide England to a 10-wicket win Photo: PTI

Spinners and turning tracks have been synonymous with India’s Test wins over the decades. There was a time when India solely depended on spinners to deliver. Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, EAS Prasanna and S. Venkataraghavan were all class acts who snared the rival batsmen to their doom with their spin tricks to give India many a Test win.

The foursome not only excelled in home conditions, but also on foreign tracks. After them came spin magicians like Sunil Doshi, Venkatapathy Raju, Narendra Hirawani, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh etc. to carry forward the great spin tradition perfected by the Indians over the years.

The wickets in the subcontinent are conducive to spin bowling more than fast bowling, as grassy, fast pitches seem to be anathema to Indian batsmen. As a result, when India tour England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand — or wherever there are fast, bouncy wickets — they are unable to cope and crumble easily. No wonder, Mahender Singh Dhoni’s boys lost eight consecutive Tests — four each in England and Australia — when they toured abroad the last time.

So, when England came for a return four-Test series, the war cry was to prepare pitches to suit the home players (read turning tracks to help R. Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha). Ashwin and Ojha are certainly not in the league of their illustrious predecessors, not by a long shot. Yet, they came up with Herculean effort to decimate England in the first Test. The Englishmen had no clue how to go about in the dust bowl of a track at the Motera, as Ojha and Ashwin spun their magic around to claim 13 wickets — nine and four apiece.

Suddenly, Ojha attained super-human status, and the left-arm bowler was touted as the answer to the declining form of Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni even took the risk of omitting Harbhajan from the final 11, and when Ojha and Ashwin conjured up a comfortable victory. Dhoni had tasted blood, and bayed for more. Shockingly, he openly asked for a turning track from day one, in the following Tests. So desperate has he become to settle scores with England for inflicting a humiliating defeat on India a few months ago that the Indian captain showed no compunction about the Motera wicket not turning the way his bowlers wanted from the first day, though Dhoni's captaincy and field placement for the spinners left a lot to be desired. England, who decided to play with just one spinner in offie Grame Swann, in hindsight, had to regret their decision of not playing Monty Paneswar, the second spinner with them.

Since the series against England is being projected as a revenge one, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is only too happy to oblige Dhoni's wish for spinner-friendly wickets. A turning track was, thus, prepared for the second Test in Mumbai, where India fielded three spinners, including Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan returned to a Test match after a gap of about 16 months. Dhoni even took the bold decision of opening the bowling with spinners Ashwin and Ojha.

This was the first time, in over many decades, that India had opened a
Test innings bowling with spinners. But this time, sadly, the joke was on India as England had learned a hard lesson from the first Test, and they were not going to repeat the mistake
in Mumbai.

Despite showing off green top wicket before the match, the visitors were not fooled, and wisely included Paneswar in the team. And the Sardar played havoc with the Indian batsmen to guide England to a 10-wicket victory.

With both Paneswar and Swann sticking to the basics, and bowling to line and length, the Indian batsmen were all at sea. And to add to the hosts’ embarrassment, captain Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen sorted out the Indian spinners with some clever batting to put on a 206-run third wicket partnership, which took the match away from India. In the end, England crushed India by 10 wickets to not only avenge the first Test defeat, but also teach the hosts that class players will deliver on any wicket, in any conditions. The BCCI will be doing a great disservice to cricket, if they dance to the tune of Dhoni and Co.

As a result, Indians can neither tackle quality pace, nor crafty spin, even on home wickets! In fact, on the third day of the second Test in Mumbai, India lost seven wickets in two hours to spinners Paneswar and Swann. So much for home conditions!

It will do no good to Indian cricket, if doctored pitches are made-to-order for the home needs, which virtually amounts to doping in other sports — a kind of performance-enhancing situation, artificially engineered. The Mumbai Test debacle teaches us precisely that lesson.

This does not mean that Pragyan Ojha has not come of age. With the solid backing of captain Dhoni, Ojha is shaping up as a match-winner, and his climb by nine places in the ICC rankings to be among the top five, after the first Test is proof enough that he's evolving as a left-arm spinner, though some former greats beg to differ.

Bedi had said elsewhere that Pietersen had thrown away his wickets. But still, for the 26-year-old left-armer, his 9 for 165 from 77.2 overs to help India crush England by nine wickets at Motera, was something to be cherished, and be proud of.

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