India succumb to .....Spin
July 28th 2008 09:11
India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the hosts here at the SSC ground, Colombo. In many ways, this victory could be considered seminal. This was probably the first time, in my memory, that another team comprehensively out-bowled Indians in the spin department. Kumble and Harbhajan - as spinners - were not even in the same ballpark as the Sri Lankan tweakers. We always talk about the Sri Lankan spinners' mystique. Because that is interesting and riveting. But mystique is nothing if not combined with discipline, good sense and consistency. And on the 4th day (3rd effective day if the rain hit first day can be discounted), it was all there for us to see.
While the attention was on Mendis, his variations and his stock deliveries - Murali ran away with it all. His 10 wicket haul in this match was just reward for an exemplary spin bowling performance. For an off spinner to come around the wicket and to have the ability to secure a leg before wicket decision against a right hander - that defines Murali as a spinner. To my mind, there has been no other off spinner who has been consistently capable of doing this. That said - the decision to give Sehwag LBW was horrendous. It was as clear an indication as any that technology is far from being correct all the time. It also raises the question as to how should the usage of technology be for LBW decisions. But that is a subject for another discussion.
While all forms of praise may indeed rightfully be heaped on the spin twins of Sri Lanka, the Indian batsman - those collossal giants, with reputations and records to match and even best the best in the history of the game, did not do themselves any favour. Laxman stood out for resolve, surefootedness and skill in the first innings and very briefly in the second. Tendulkar's approach against the spinners in both the innings was very refreshing and he was actually stroking the ball well in both innings before he got out. I thought he was very unlucky to get out in the second innings - with the ball slowing down after hitting his pad and bobbling up at the right time to hit his bat which was completing its follow through on the sweep. However, it must also be mentioned that Tendulkar was bamboozled by Murali in the first innings - with an around the wicket doosra which the master saw and recognized but could not pass the message on at the right time to his hands so that they could move out of the way. There was a slight question in my mind as to whether that could possibly mean a gradual slowing down of his reflexes. But that is too early to consider right now.
Ganguly had a very poor match. His dismissal in the second innings was one that was forced by the bowler and the captain. Murali, around the wicket with two slips is not a man to be guided around the gully region. That shot spoke of deseration on Ganguly's part. He would have been better advised to leave that alone but in order to do that, the ball must have been picked up from the hand so as to avoid the possibility of leaving a doosra and being castled. I got the distinct feeling that Ganguly was not picking the bowlers off the hand but was playing them off the wicket - just like the mere mortals (those non Indian batsmen who we have always found it very easy to criticize against spin).
There was a very nice line in today's Hindu on Dravid's approach against the spinners. He approached the contest as if he were playing against a bunch of vipers. Absolutely true. The surefootedness that has long been a hallmark of this man deserted him in this match. Dravid against spin has always typified a particular approach for me. He would stretch forward and more forward so that he stifles the ball - so much so that it would barely get up off the ground after it bounced from his bat. The bemused bowler would draw his length back ever so slightly. Not short enough for the back foot, but not exactly a ball that you could reach on the front foot. The coveted spinner's magic length. What Dravid would do though was bordering on surreal. He would skip quickly away towards the legside, clearing his front foot and pushing back into the crease and thereby creating the length and the line to play a backfoot cover or square drive. One of the hardest shots to play in cricket. That used to be a hallmark of the man. It was sad that there was not one of those shots on view in this match. While the Sri Lankan spinners bowled very well indeed, it was not too much of us to expect Dravid to counter them with resolute defense and silk laced and subtle offence. But here Dravid failed - as did his illustrious partners.
That leaves us with the opening combination. Sehwag and Gambhir have started off well. Briefly in the first innings and very briefly in the second. Sehwag threw his wicket away with an absolutely senseless shot in the first innings. A hook shot against a shorter ball which was directed well outside the off stump and was at least as high as his head. It is appreciable and noticeable that the man has worked on his pull and hook shots in recent times. We saw evidence of that in the recently concluded IPL. But judiciousness is something that is called for in the highest order in Test matches. And on this count, Sehwag failed in the first innings. In the second innings, he was most senselessly cut down by the erring technology (Hawk "blind" eye) and the failure of the umpires (Rudi Koerzen on TV and Mark Benson at the crease) to interpret the images properly. India is suffering a huge disadvantage when Sehwag does not get to face the spinners. If there is one person who can be expected to throw the spinners' length and control into disarray, it is Sehwag. However that was not to be. Better things and even better temperament will be expected of Sehwag in the next Test. A dismissal against the faster men would be a sacrilege in the context of this Test series. He needs to save himself for the spinners and attempt to take them on to bring a turning point to this series. And considering that this is a 3 Test series, the turning point has to come pretty soon - in the next Test to be precise.
Gautam Gambhir has sorted out his errant front foot technique against the faster bowlers. However, his nemesis continues to be Muralitharan. The elegant left hander is not a wimp against spin. Far from that. He is enterprising, fluent and aggressive. But sometimes one does get the impression that he is far too aggressive. For example there was no need of that saunter down the wicket to try and deposit Murali over cover. Driving Murali inside out is not an easy thing to do! And Gambhir paid the price. This was in the second innings. In the first innings, Murali simply blew Gambhir out. The curling ball (drift actually) dipped and turned to beat Gambhir's on drive, getting a leading edge to be consumed at cover. Maybe Gambhir needs to start looking at playing Murali straighter and later. One gets the impression that Gambhir's hands are far too hard and fast. He has to slow his bat speed down and delay it so that the possibility of leading edges and false strokes are cut down.
Before we go to the bowlers, we need to focus on one man who had quite possibly the worst match. Dinesh Karthik - the keeper who is standing in for M.S.Dhoni. In both the innings, he proved patently unequal to handling Muralitharan. The first innings saw a wild swing which was duly collected by Murali himself and the second innings saw a desperate attempt to cover for the doosra which failed and got the outside edge. Kathik too has the same tendency as Gambhir to harden his hands and play far too early. In addition he has a very definite forward thrust which makes it harder to defend securely. Gambhir's forward movement is more measured however and that allows him to rock onto the backfoot when needed. Karthik however likes to pull off the front foot. While this is OK against the faster bowlers on slower wickets, it will not stand him in good stead against all types of bowlers on all types of wickets. In this Test though, he was throughly exposed by Murali. His spot in the team is under question now - not just because of his poor showing with the bat. His two drop catches off his captain's bowling will figure hugely when it comes to the choice of keeper in the next Test. I have seen Parthiv Patel play with great assurance off faster bowling but I have not had the opportunity of seeing him bat against quality spinners. If the team management figure that he can play spin bowling decently, then I would support his inclusion in the team ahead of Karthik in the next Test. But Kumble is one captain who has been known to infuse confidence in his wards and it would not be a surprise to see Karthik don the keeping pads again in the next Test. It is not that Karthik is not a good keeper. It is just that he needs to be more consistent. He is brilliant at times and lacklustre on other occasions. That is not what is reqiured. We need consistency along with that flair. In contrast Dhoni is comfortingly steady. He is not brilliant by any means but you know that he is not going to drop straight forward chances. If Karthik continues this tendency to pluck astonishing catches but drop easy ones, the decision on the keepers is going to be an easy one. And, for sure, it is not going to favour Karthik.
Lastly, a word about the Indian bowlers. On hugely unresponsive tracks, our fast bowlers - Zaheer and Ishant- toiled for long. They bowled conventional and reverse swing - well, at least in the case of Zaheer. Ishant is more of a seam and cut bowler. They tried their heart out on this featherbed of a wicket while the men who ought to have burdened the lion's share of the responsibility could not put their hands up. This was not a pitch where the faster bowlers needed to be flogged so mercilessly. It was very poor thinking on Kumble's part. But to his defense, this became evident only when we saw the Sri Lankan's approach the game on the 3rd day.
However, Kumble is no fledgling at this level. With his awe-inspiring experience he ought to have understood the conditions better and utilized his resources better.
Talking of utilizing resources better, India can only do that if the resources are effective. Our spinners, at no stage looked menacing. There was occassional fizz from Kumble and the rare zipping delivery which bounced and bamboozled the batsmen. Unfortunately though, the couple of occassions that Kumble managed to confound the batsmen and get their edge, he found that Karthik, the keeper, too was beaten and was not equal to the task of completing the formalities. The catches were not easy but then they do not have to be at this level to be classified as a drop. And there are no decent drop catches. There are only missed opportunities. However it cannot be denied that Kumble did not look like getting a wicket for most of the time he bowled. So even the occassional fizz, it can be said, fizzled out. The less said about Harbhajan Singh's bowling the better it would be. Too much of limited overs cricket seems to be affecting his bowling adversely. The part time off spinner Sehwag was consistently achieving more turn and drift than Harbhajan - which is not new, by the way. The problem with Harbhajan Singh is that he hardly gets any drift on his bowling which makes even the turning ball predictable and easier to play. It is with drift that the seeds of doubt are sown in the minds of the batsmen. Harbhajan Singh's doosra too was conspicuous by its absence in this Test match. The scorecard would say that the Sardar got 2 wickets to Kumble's none, but that is not necessarily a true reflection of the bowling on display.
Murali outbowling Kumble and Harbhajan is not hugely disappointing - while it is still not a heartening thought. However, a debutant spinner showing more skill, resolve, discipline, character and plain old common sense than these two seasoned professionals has to rankle. And rankle badly at that.
In the end, this match would be remembered for the peerless batting group's abject failure. But people who saw this match will know just how important and seminal the failure of the spinners to take the game by the scruff was. The difference stares us in the eye. 19 of 20 Indian wickets were picked up by the Sri Lankan spinners! In contrast the Indian spinners took 2 out of 6 wickets to fall in the Sri Lankan innings - at a combined economy rate of almost 3.5 runs per over.
The jury might still be out on which set of batsmen are the best players of spin, but the unanimous decision has to be that the best spin bowlers in the plant have been spotted. And they are wearing the Sri Lankan colours.
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