All In A Spin?

Spin bowling for as long as the memory can remember has been a thriving art in the Indian cricketing armoury. With the likes of the more recent Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble leaving a trail of batsman wondering what just happened.

Yet it appears this may be Indian cricket's traditional strength, but a decline in standards has prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to set up a panel of experts to revive what Jagmohan Dalmiya, the board president, called a "decaying art".

Even with the near perfect conditions in India the younger generation are opting to pick up a ball and rather give a quick flick of the wrist they prefer instead to try bowl as quick as they can, maybe after seeing the likes of Khan and Neher making such an impact on the world stage of late, this could be the case but then it could just Indian board seeing no real successor to the spin twins that have won so many matches single handily over the last few years for Indian.

Whatever the real reason maybe it has alarmed the Indian Cricket Board enough to set up a panel of experts in an attempt to revive the so call "decaying art".

The body is scheduled to meet for the first time on May 30 in Kolkata, which comprises of Bapu Nadkarni, VV Kumar, Rajinder Goel, Padmakar Shivalkar, Shivlal Yadav, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Anil Kumble, as well as all four members of the famed spin quartet - Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi.

Dalmiya told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that, apart from Harbhajan Singh and Kumble, Indian spinners have not made much of an impression of late. "Spin bowling appears to be a decaying art today," he said. "In the past, however, the strength in this department helped India win many matches. But the performance of the spinners with the exception of Kumble and Harbhajan leaves much to be desired."

"After the brain-storming session, a spinners' wing would be set up under the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The talented spinners in the country from all age groups would be identified and put under special training of the experts in the panel," added Dalmiya.

Posted by Richard