Spin or seam? Take your pick
SWARUP KAR PURKAYASTHAPosted online: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 at 0032 hrs Print EmailFive bowlers, say experts, but no consensus on composition of attack as second Test draws near
Ahmedabad, March 31: After the high-scoring draw in Chennai, the focus has shifted to the 22-yard strip at Motera, where the second Test starts on April 3. And, as D-day approaches, experts in Ahmedabad are unanimously telling Team India to go into the match with five bowlers. But when it comes to the composition of the bowling attack, things start getting really interesting — opinion is divided almost 50-50 on whether captain Anil Kumble should play three spinners or three seamers.
Ahmedabad has traditionally been a tame wicket that has helped spin more than seam. The last Test played here had ended in four days with Kumble and Harbhajan Singh ruling the roost against Sri Lanka. But an interesting change happened in the domestic season that just went by with pacemen suddenly starting to reap rich hauls at that ground.
In domestic matches played since September last year — including Ranji, Duleep and age-group games — it has been the seamers who have done most of the damage. In a Duleep Trophy match between North and South Zone, played in January that year, medium-pacers had grabbed 23 of the 32 wickets to fall.
Gujarat paceman Siddharth Trivedi, who has been a regular on that ground, said, “that season, the wicket really helped fast bowlers. Bowlers who can hit the deck hard have got a lot of help from it. But spinners do come into play on the last two days .”
But former India coach Aunshuman Gaekwad, who knows Motera inside out from the time he coached the Gujarat team, believes the track still warrants the inclusion of three spinners. “With that kind of heat, there is no question of moisture remaining on the track for long,” he said.
“It will dry up quicker than we expect. India should go with five bowlers — you can’t expect long spells in that heat. Three spinners and two pacers would be ideal, with Piyush Chawla coming in.”
The pitch curator Dhiraj Parsana has promised a “sporting” track and not play spoilsport, and he has a supporter in Gujarat player Niraj Patel. “The wicket initially helps pacers, the batsmen can play their shots, and spinners become effective from the third-day onwards. that track doesn’t upset anyone,” Patel said.
Gujarat coach Ashok Patel, however, has a different view. “The pitch really played well for bowlers that season — it helps both seamers and spinners. But there is not much in it for batsmen. It will be difficult to play strokes. One has to be patient to play a long innings,” said Patel.
“Bowlers like RP Singh, who have both pace and swing, will be very effective. But India will have an upper-hand because of their quality spin attack,” he added.
Since 1999, Kumble and Harbhajan have played four Tests together at Motera and shared 51 wickets between themselves. However, only one of them resulted in an Indian win (against Sri Lanka in 2005), with the other three matches ending in draws.
Kumble will have to make a tough call on match-eve. But he’d perhaps be better off taking his own counsel. As things stand, making anything of the diverse opinions seems even tougher than reading a wicket.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/290767.html