Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Spinning new talent
|
A follow-up camp at the National Cricket Academy aims to rev up India's conveyor belt of spinners. Bishen Singh Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna and V.V. Kumar put 10 young spinners through their paces
|
THE NEW TURBANATORS The experienced trio of spin maestros, Bishen Singh Bedi (not in picture), E.A.S. Prasanna and V.V. Kumar, supervising the young spinners who have progressed well since the last camp held in September 2004 Photo: K. Gopinathan
Fast bowling is often an exciting blur. No wonder speed merchants get exotic nicknames ranging from 'Whispering death' to 'Greased lightning'.
But if fast bowling is a spectacle that thrills instantaneously, then spin seeps in slow like vintage wine. As Bishen Singh Bedi recently pointed out: "Spin bowling is all about brains and is an art." India is still considered as the land of spin despite the recent slant towards the huff and puff of pace bowling with the likes of Zaheer Khan, L. Balaji and Irfan Pathan trying hard to fit into the shoes left behind by Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath. Despite the emergence of such talented pacers, India's fortunes still depend on the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Across the globe, the gentle art of spin with its 'kill em' softly' theme is still in vogue. Shane Warne (583) and M. Muralitharan (532) are still battling it out to be the highest wicket-taker in Tests while Anil Kumble with 461 figures in the top-five bowlers' list.
"In today's gruelling schedules, only spinners can survive. It is a great feeling to have three spinners in the 400-500 wickets category. It shows spin is really important. The subtle changes and variations of spin play a big role. Even in one-day cricket, spinners are there in the top five," Kumble says. The present might be rosy for spin but for Indian selectors, the future is hazy as Kumble is in his twilight years while Harbhajan, despite having age on his side, will always be conscious of the shadows that trail his action for the `doosra'. To their credit, Kumble and Harbhajan have greatly improved upon the legacy left by the spin-quartet of the seventies - Bedi, B.S. Chandrashekar, E.A.S. Prasanna and S. Venkatraghavan.
Now to unearth new talent the BCCI and its spin-wing have stared a apin camp at the KSCA (B) Ground in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) premises. The experienced trio of Bedi, Prasanna and V.V. Kumar are supervising ten spinners who have now progressed well since the last camp held in September 2004.
"We selected these spinners for the follow-up camp here because they have the statistics that back them," Prasanna says.
"They have been getting on average three wickets per innings, which is good and some of them even clock four wickets, which is tremendous. We believe that these spinners have got their basics right in the previous camp. In the present camp we will try and move them ahead with issues like setting fields and setting up dismissals. The focus will be on practical sessions. It is a challenge for both of us."
For the young spinners it is often a case of awe followed by some hard lessons on spin as they interact with legends like Bedi and Prasanna. Local lad and promising off-spinner Ryan Ninan, says: "I was also there in the camp last year though this time with exams around I am fighting for time to attend the latest camp. We all learnt a lot in the last camp, I mean it was a great experience to learn from the legends. They spoke about their days of spin, about the need for turn and guile and the way to go about it which is very helpful as these days we are more used to pushing the ball through against flat-batted shots."
Former leg-spinner V. Vaman Kumar who is a regular coach at the NCA, also keeps a close watch on the trainees. "Bedi and Prasanna will set the agenda for the course. These young spinners are good and this follow-up camp will basically assess their progress in the last one year and if need be, some of them might be called again for the fresh camp for a new batch of spinners commencing in September," he says.
Meanwhile Bedi adds almost philosophically: "The value of Anil Kumble will perhaps be fully understood only after he leaves the game. He is an exemplary cricketer."
K.C. VIJAYA KUMAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
|
