India – two spinners and one dilemma
Rahul Dravid’s got a bit of a job on his hands even before India’s crucial match against West Indies gets under way – getting the right combination on the park. There’s the pitch to consider and fortunately Ahmedabad’s strips have played the best of the tournament. There’s the dew factor to consider – something that barely came into effect in the early part of the tournament, but is now such an issue that the ICC has taken to spraying the outfield with APSA-80, a chemical used in the farming industry to counter excessive dew.
In normal circumstances India would prefer to play two spinners against the West Indies. Traditionally, the West Indies have been weaker against spin than pace, and though India have two offspinners, they are different bowlers in that Harbhajan Singh relies on bounce and sharp turn to beat batsmen while Ramesh Powar is slower through the air and uses variations in loop and flight to pick up his wickets. Ideally, India would like to play both of them, but not if they’re going to be bowling with a ball that more closely resembles a cake of soap left on the floor of a shower stall too long. More
Courtesy: Cricinfo
Related posts:
- Spinners made the difference One side gambled on picking two spinners, another decided to go ahead with an all-pace attack but, as both captains admitted at the end of the day, it turned to be a decisive move. India’s spin duo, comprising Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar, applied the brakes in the middle overs while England, without Monty Panesar, [...]...
- Sangakkara relieved after first win An elated Mohali skipper Kumar Sangakkara praised Yuvraj Singh and Ramesh Powar for their first win from four matches. By Aditya Ramachandran Crediting Juan Theron for his bowling in the super over and Yuvraj Singh for his gumption in the batting part of it, Sangakkara said, “We decided to send Mahela because he is such a good [...]...
- Off-spinner Powar turns 29, celebrates birthday with teammates Indian off-spinner Ramesh Powar turned 29 and celebrated his birthday with his teammates here Sunday, two days after making his Test match debut. Had rains not washed out the third day’s play of the first Test against Bangladesh, Powar might have taken his first Test wicket. Ramesh Powar cut a cake on the rooftop of the team [...]...
- Spinners tie down England India fought back in the third one-day international at Edgbaston after Matt Prior and Alastair Cook had given England a solid start. The openers added 76 before Munaf Patel struck the first blow and, in similar style to Bristol, the spinners slowed down the run-rate with Ramesh Powar removing Cook and Piyush Chawla foxing Kevin [...]...
- Powar, Pawar likely to make Test debut Spinners Ramesh Powar and Rajesh Pawar are likely to earn their maiden Test caps as India are pondering fielding a five-pronged bowling attack against Bangladesh in the first cricket Test starting here on Friday. “We do have the option of playing five bowlers in these conditions considering the weather, the wicket and what we are trying [...]...
- ‘Where are the good left-arm spinners?’ Unarguably the greatest off-spinner from the subcontinent, Erapalli Prasanna was a scourge of the best of batsmen of his era. Ian Chappell, a master batsman against spinners, still goes gaga over the Indian and his high quality, versatile off-spin bowling. Of his 189 Test wickets, many were those of the most formidable batsmen from Australia, [...]...
- Start delayed by half an hour Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss on a wet morning at Kochi and put Australia in to bat. With wet conditions delaying the start of play by 30 minutes there was plenty of time for conjecture on team composition and what the captain winning the toss would do, but this was all put to rest [...]...
- Yuvraj and Karthik lead India’s revival That familiar bugbear of Indian batsmen – the short ball – began to undo the top order once again in Jamaica before a partnership between Dinesh Karthik and Yuvraj Singh built a sound platform in the first one-day international against West Indies. India’s revival was nervous early on but by the halfway stage the batsmen [...]...
- India eye revenge against South Africa India might struggle to put 11 players on the park even as they look for revenge when they take on South Africa in the first one-day international of the three-match Future Cup series in Belfast on Tuesday. After Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] pulled out of India’s opening game due to high fever, players like Sachin Tendulkar [...]...
- Clarke: We can handle Indian spinners Australian skipper Michael Clarke is not unduly worried by the presence of quality spinners in the Indian ranks, saying his batsmen are equipped to negotiate them. “India have got a lot of talent and they are a great side. They have some good spinners. Harbhajan is a world class bowler. But then every team plays spinners [...]...