India should turn back to spin
Shivaji Sengupta - 2 May 2002

Taking the field with three pace bowlers in the third Test at Bridgetown seems to be a foregone conclusion. The pitch is expected to be faster than the wickets encountered thus far in the series. India did same thing in 1997, going in with Venkatesh Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla and Dodda Ganesh, and they almost won. The trio taking most of the wickets; Anil Kumble took only one. So why not go with the same formula, since the wicket is likely to behave similarly.

But I feel - pretty strongly - that Anil Kumble should be chosen instead of Zaheer Khan. This does not say anything against the fast bowler; he did pretty well in Trinidad and has a bright future. But India need Kumble's experience, especially if the West Indies bat last in Barbados.

With Kumble's fastish leg-breaks at Bridgetown, I think Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra will be able to make an even bigger impact on the opposition. On a deteriorating pitch, it would be to India's advantage to have both Kumble and Harbhajan in the side, harassing the Caribbean batsman with more than just pace.

It should be remembered here that Brian Lara didn't exactly seem comfortable against Harbhajan Singh in the second innings of the Trinidad Test. Assuming that Srinath and Nehra will again bowl true to plan, Sourav Ganguly may want to have available enough spin variety to keep the West Indian batsmen off balance. Kumble's experience in taking 318 Test wickets should also not be discounted out of hand.

In the batting department, the problems are less complicated. Sanjay Bangar has played himself out of the team, and since Ajay Ratra played only once - and didn't keep wicket too badly - it would be unfair to send him back to the bench. Wasim Jaffer should get the chance, even as India keep trying to experiment with the opening combination. Ever since those famous matches with Australia in early 2001, India - like their counterpart in the Caribbean - have been groping for a reliable opening pair.

I am also slightly concerned with the sudden loss of form of Shiv Sunder Das. This is the same batsman who had batted with, if not aplomb then at least with reliability, in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Here, against the Windies, he seems to have come completely unglued against raw pace. There will be more of the same to come when India visit England, and Das needs to show that his loss of form is purely temporary, or it will be back to the drawing board for Indian selectors.

Finally, a sentence or so about Dinesh Mongia. What a fine batsman he is, serving the country well time and time again. With the middle-order more than solid at the moment, though, it is a pity that batsmen like Mongia and Virender Sehwag have to be content playing for India only in one-day internationals.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
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