Twitter
Advertisement

That spinning question

On a green top in Brisbane, biggest worry for Indian captain will be to choose between Karn Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja — none of whom has been impressive lately

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

It came as a huge surprise when stand-in captain Virat Kohli preferred the inexperienced leg-spinner Karn Sharma over the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin or even the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja as the lone slow bowler for the first Test in Adelaide last week.

Ashwin, the senior-most spinner in the current Indian set-up, is also wiser from the previous Australian trip in 2011-12. His 107 wickets in 21 Tests are much more than Sharma’s first-class tally of 66 in 34 matches  before he added four more in his Test debut.

Don’t they say, ‘play your best spinner when you go for only one in a Test’?

Kohli thought Sharma was the best under the circumstances. Not many would have agreed upon that. If Mahendra Singh Dhoni were fit and played in Adelaide, would he have gone in with a debutant in the first Test of a series in Australia? Dhoni might even have gone for Jadeja ahead of Ashwin as was seen in the Tests in England where the Saurashtra left-arm spinner was the No.1 spin option.

Sharma, all along considered a limited-overs bowler, was found wanting on a pitch where Australia’s only spinner, Nathan Lyon, emerged the match-winner with a career best 12-wicket match haul.

In fact, it was Sharma’s maiden first-class game on Australian soil, though he has played in limited-overs on India ‘A’ team’s tour Down Under in July-August this year, picking up three wickets in three games at an average of 40.67.

The Adelaide Test also saw part-time off-spinners Murali Vijay bowl 12 overs in the first innings and six in the second while Rohit Sharma sent down 12 overs, managing a scalp of the big-hitting Mitchell Marsh, a wicket that the young Aussie all-rounder gave while going for quick runs with the declaration round the corner. With Rohit batting at No. 6 in Adelaide, he once again did not do justice to his abundant talent. 

He had the chance to guide India home but was done in by a Lyon off-spinner to which he offered leg-slip a catch off the glove. With Rohit scoring 43 and 6, Ashwin would not done any worse. And, India would have had a better spinner exploiting the Adelaide  pitch conditions.

This clearly showed that Kohli missed an extra spinner. Or did he miss a better, more experienced spinner?

Legendary Bishan Singh Bedi said India “had the opportunity to go with two spinners in Adelaide but they messed it up”.

The 68-year-old former Indian captain was puzzled how Sharma was on the plane in the first place to Australia for the Tests. “I don’t know how Karn is on this trip. You cannot take a man for a Test series from his IPL performance. Karn has been around for some time, has played 34 first-class matches (before the Test) and does not even have 70 wickets. What is the criteria for selection? It has to be wickets in first-class cricket. I feel sorry for him. This kid does not belong here (in Test cricket),” Bedi, who played in 67 Tests and picked up 266 wickets, told dna on Monday.

What pained Bedi was the fact that Sharma had few first-class wickets to back him. 

“India took only 12 wickets in the entire Test when they needed to take 20. Indian bowling has always been a weak link, which was made only weaker. I have no issues with inexperience when you present the India cap but have issues with the number of wickets Sharma has taken. In 35 matches, he should have 150-plus wickets (Sharma has 70 wickets in first-class matches after the Adelaide Test). Ashwin should have played in the first Test. It was one wicket where you could have gone with one batsman short,” he said.

“I have seen many leg-spinners over the years and that is why I feel so strongly about this issue. There have been such top-class leg-spinners like Baloo Gupte and VV Kumar who took a lot of wickets in Ranji Trophy and still could not play more than just three and two Tests, respectively,” Bedi added.

Having played Sharma in the first Test and him being exposed to the highest quality of cricket, is it fair to drop him for the second Test? Dhoni the captain may think so, but if Kohli were to captain, he may give the Railways spinner another game.

With the second Test being played in the green top Gabba in Brisbane, it is highly unlikely that India will go with two spinners or four pacers. So who should that spinner be?

Bedi said: “Now that you have played Karn in the first Test, it will be grossly unfair to not give him another game. But how do you play two spinners? Brisbane will have pace and bounce. Same, perhaps, in Melbourne (venue for third Test). Sydney (fourth Test) will give us a little chance but by then it may be too late.”

Bedi has made two tours of Australia — 1967-68 and 1977-78 — playing in Brisbane on both the tours. He took five for 55 in the first innings in Brisbane on his second tour, a Test in which three of the famous spin-quartet played. EAS Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar being the other two to give Bedi company.

Bedi, an early riser who makes it a point to watch the Tests on television from the first ball, felt that Ashwin had to bowl long spells in the nets, as also the others. “None of them bowl long overs. You need to bowl long spells in the nets to get into the Test match mould. They are so used to bowling four overs in T20s. The pace attack, again, is a victim of T20. Nothing is settled with the Indian Test side at the moment.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement