Chennai: The sight of Indian fielders crouching around the bat for the spinners on low turners might vanish for a while. Post Sachin Tendulkar era, India have begun their overseas voyage starting with the African Safari. The domination of the spinners was such at home that there were four specialist spinners in the squad for the Test series against West Indies.
“Let them smell the leather“ -is what the South African pacers are likely to dish out for the visiting Indian batters. With pace and bounce expected to go hand in hand, the Indians have gone in with a five-pronged pace battery -Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma -alongside three spinners -R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha -with leg-spinner Amit Mishra having to swallow the bitter pill of being dropped from the squad. A recap of the recent past of India in away Tests throws in the fact that left-arm spinner Ojha has never featured in a Test series outside the sub-continent. In all likelihood Ashwin would be leading the spin charge on the bouncier tracks of South Africa alongside allrounder Jadeja.
India's spin legend EAS Prasanna says that Ashwin has a pivotal role to play in the series. “India's success would revolve around Ashwin's performance. He has it in him to deliver the goods under pressure. One should look to generate spin on those wickets rather than just try to use the bounce,“ added Prasanna.
The 73-year-old yesteryear star, who himself was part of the famous spin quartet that thrived in alien conditions, underlines the importance of “striking the pads of the opposition batsmen“ on those tracks.
“The spinners should work in varying the trajectory of the ball so that the chances of deceiving the batsmen on bouncier tracks are more. I would prefer them to focus more on creating leg before wicket dismissals,“ explained Prasanna.
According to Prasanna, the success of Indian spinners lies in rising to the occasion. “Outside the subcontinent one would n't expect any spinner to run through sides on a regular basis. The Indian spinners should ners should look to prov i d e breakthroughs w h e n the need arises so that the South African batsmen don't forge partnerships and recover.
A classic example was the twin blows (dismissing Ian Bell and Matt Prior) struck by Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon in the first Ashes Test which broke the backbone of the English batting. I repeat, it is about spinning the ball on a consistent basis in the crucial middle overs of the day,“ said Prasanna. Bishan Singh Bedi felt that the series is so short that the bowlers will gain nothing but experience. “All of them are young cricketers and it is the first time they will be featuring in a Test series in South Africa. It will be a good test of their cricketing skills and character. At the end of it, all they would come back home with better knowledge on how to adapt to different conditions across the world,“ the former India left-arm spinner said.
