WALL OF FAME!

- By Dr. V.V. Giri

May be it is inappropriate at this time to talk about correct batting technique and tight defense, when the whole world is in T 20 mood.

I really wonder now, what a coach would teach a school boy on how to play a good length ball.  Is it going to be - stretch well forward, with bat and pad close together, head bent, with a soft hand, block the ball so that the ball drops dead in front of the bat.

Or, to the same delivery, play a ‘reverse sweep’ over short third man? If you teach the defense, the boy is certain to ask you that he watched his favorite player Warner playing a reverse sweep for a good length delivery.

Well, this is going to be a big headache for all coaches.

I think when we talk about correct technique, we think of ‘test’ cricket in the first place. I feel to some extent in the ODI limited over games perfect technique is required and it plays an important role. There is nothing like watching the tussle between the ball and the bat in a test cricket.

When we talk about top Indian batsmen, though the statistics speak louder, they mean nothing to me. There are plenty of differences in scoring runs against weak and tough opponents, playing in slow wickets in India or in lively bouncy tracks in Australia, South Africa West Indies or in seamy conditions like England, New Zealand etc.

There were many good batsmen in India, in the pre-TV era - Merchant, Mankad, Hazare, Nayudu, Manjerakar, Umrigar, Borde, Hanuman Singh and others, who played terrific innings for India, in India as well as outside.  Remember, those days, the wickets were not covered and there was no protective gears which gives security to the batsmen.

I am not going to discuss about pre-TV era, as the readers wouldn’t have seen or heard about our ‘golden oldies’.  Also, there were not video clippings of those games.   They may not even like it. But let me tell you, some pre-TV era cricketers (prior to 1975) were technically very sound and had more talent but less opportunity.

After 1975, India had very few batsmen with perfect technique. Those who scored tons of runs with poor technique, do not stay in the minds of cricket lovers, whereas G.R Vishwanath’s  97 not out against the hostile bowling attack in 1975 at Chennai is still rated as one of the best innings played by an Indian and people enjoy talking about that even now.

Today Virat Kolhi is doing well, as of now, but it’s too early to consider him and other youngsters. They need to prove their technique further.

Let us start with the darling of the Indian crowd, the batsman who was feared by all the bowlers in the world – Virender Sehwag. He is the only Indian cricketer who has scored triple hundred, not once, but twice. He has scored lots of runs against all countries in all venues. He is a fearless batsman who plays in his own way.

But, when you look at his technique, he is a typical example for “how not to bat”. Absolutely terrible technique and the less we discuss about it, is better. God only knows how he was able to score so many test runs with that batting technique. He is what they say ‘hand – eye coordination’ batsman. His idea is see the ball well and hit it. It is surprising India has batsmen like Tendulkar and Dravid playing alongside Sehwag and Dhoni.

Mohammad Azharuddin scored many runs, but people never rated him as a top batsman.  He had too many flaws in his technique. He, like Laxman, was predominantly an ‘on’ side wristy player but Laxman could drive on both sides.  Azhar’s grip was not perfect with right hand dominating so much that he could never play a cut or square drive on the off side. Besides, he was helpless when pitched short and people don’t want to remember the way he handled bouncers. Critics used to brand him - very strong below the waist!!

In 1989 in West Indies, his captain Vengsarkar was very angry with him and openly commented for running away to the leg side when the fast bowlers operated. Not that his captain was any better. He was also a chicken when it came to short pitch deliveries.  Dilip Vengsarkar’s failure rate was so high in his initial stages, God only knows how he managed to play so many tests with these drawbacks. In my opinion, both Azhar and Vengsarkar are not perfect batsmen.

The next pair of players who come to my mind are Mohinder Amarnath and Ganguly.  Ganguly was a suspect in the initial stages against deliveries aimed at his chest, but I can certainly say that he improved his game well, countered all his deficiency and when he retired, he was a complete batsman as good as any one.

Same goes with Jimmy Amarnath too.  He was a fine player of both fast and spin bowling. His problem was dilemma in hooking or ducking a bouncer. He was a great hooker but the situation of the side wasn’t conducive to hook all bouncers during his time.  Many times he got hit due to this indecisiveness and was branded otherwise. Both Amarnath and Ganguly were great improvisers. The number of ‘come backs’ they made prove this point.

Next in my list are GR VIswanath and Laxman. Both are very talented, stylish, great caliber and on their day can win the match for India. These two have good technique, but play too much on their plus points. If Viswanath was a God on the ‘off side’, Laxman is on the ‘on side’. They played some breath-taking shots and terrific innings for India, leaving the opposition gasping. Their problem was inconsistency. When they were going in great guns, they used to play some novel shots and come back to the pavilion.

Now comes, the little master Sachin Tendulkar. I have absolutely no doubt that this man has enormous talent, best technique, perfect delivery judgement and is a complete batsman. You don’t find any major flaws in his batting. He may not be as fluent as Ganguly on the ‘off side’ or Laxman on the ‘on side’. But he is a versatile player and his stats speak for him. There were occasions where we have seen him unable to leave the ball and get in to trouble. But on the whole he is a top class batsman.

His problems are not in his technique. It is his mind set, which lets him down most times. We have seen time and again, Sachin attacking all the front line bowlers, but all of a sudden, goes in to his shell, giving unwanted respect to ordinary bowlers and thereby loses his wicket. He got out many times in his nineties defending unnecessarily, after a fluent knock. At one point of his career, this problem became a big issue which made people question his ability.

That leaves only two batsmen to discuss for the top spot. Great Sunil Gavaskar and the Wall, Rahul Dravid. Both were pillars for India. No amount of words would be enough to appreciate the services rendered by these two for Indian cricket. They have played some epoch making innings to save the side which I consider as more valuable than any personal achievements.

If playing variety of great instinctive shots is a talent, leaving those tempting deliveries aside is a greater talent, especially when your side is in trouble. These two are experts in that area and are world’s best. It is not an easy job. It needs tremendous concentration and extraordinary ability. Batsmen with greater strokes (Viswanath and Amarnath) failed in this aspect.

Gavaskar adjudged universally as world’s best batsman was very good against fast as well as spin. The wickets were lively and the bowlers were superior during his time. He negotiated all short pitch deliveries with authority and he was a master batsman when it came to facing spin bowling. The 96 in his last test against Pakistan at Bangalore on a paddy field wicket was rated as the finest innings played under difficult conditions.

Dravid, who is as good in leaving the ball, played the fast bowling with authority. His on side and off side strokes were flawless and equal to Sunny’s. But Dravid, in my opinion struggled a little bit against left arm spin bowling. When you look at his dismissals, he was out, caught at slips to left arm spinner more often.

Gavaskar had some problem with the slightly over pitched deliveries. He was basically back foot player with excellent body balance. Since he was short, he couldn’t reach well forward to kill the swing and turn. For spinners, he always used his feet, walked out and met the ball. Both these batsmen judged the short pitched delivery very well and they never got hit in the head. They never used to duck either. Great batsmen do not duck, they sway away. Both Sunny and Rahul were great hookers and never got out hooking.

On a bouncy wicket, many times Gavaskar was hit on the fingers because of his height problem. In this aspect Dravid scores over Gavaskar. We have seen Dravid stretching well forward fearlessly to reach for anything close and prevent it from swinging further.

Rahul Dravid is an excellent hooker of bouncers and he always kept them down to the square leg umpire. But the situation always prevented him from playing the hook shot.  He is a terrific team man and has saved the country from defeat many a time than anybody.  He is undoubtedly the most likable person and a man with great character and composure. He is soft in nature at the same time determined and, in my opinion,  the most complete and the greatest cricketer India ever produced. He was the “protective Wall” of the Indian cricket.

My Top Ten are:-

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Mohd Azharuddin
3. Dilip Vengsarkar
4. Sourav Ganguly
5. Mohinder Amarnath
6. V.V.S. Laxman
7. G.R. Viswanath
8. Sachin Tendulkar
9. Sunil Gavaskar
10. Rahul Dravid

Your comments are appreciated.

About the Author: Dr V. V. Giri is one of the Midwest, USA’s most distinguished cricketers.  He has been involved in cricket writing for many years for various newspapers and web sites all over the World. He has many fan followers for his in depth knowledge about cricket.  He is currently the President of Troy Cricket Club in MichCA. Dr. Giri has been playing for this club for many years and has been performing creditably. He is also serving MichCA as a selector, coach and umpire for many years. Dr. Giri is also a currently playing member for the famous, Madras Cricket Club, Chennai, whenever he visits Chennai.

Dr V. V. Giri enjoyed a long career as one of the top players in Chennai’s highly competitive first (senior) division of league cricket. He was in the state squad for a brief time in spite of his busy Healthcare profession. An outstanding off-spinner and a very successful opening batsman, he played not only throughout India, but also in England (Essex league) and Australia (NSW league), and was a member of the touring parties that played in Canada, USA, the Caribbean, and many countries in Europe and the Far East Asia.

He was also a highly successful cricket administrator, spending several years as the very effective Cricket Secretary of the famous Madras Cricket Club, one of India’s oldest and most respected clubs.  

Moreover, in his native Chennai, Dr. Giri worked as a top-level cricket coach for many years.  This included senior division league teams (SPIC, Madras Cricket Club, MAC Spin Foundation of Tamil Nadu).  Several leading India Internationals (Robin Singh, Sadagopan Ramesh, Hemang Badani, Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthik) are numbered among his former charges.

Dr Giri studied at Madras Medical College and defended his Ph. D. in Pharmaceutical Technology in USA. Pharmaceutical Research and Development has, like cricket, taken him to many countries, and eventually brought him to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is into Clinical Research.

Dr. Giri Vankeepuram  V.

Clinical Research, Internal Medicine, University of Michigan. USA.

e mails:-  vvgiri9@yahoo.com;        giri@med.umich.edu

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ASHWIN?

- By Dr. V.V. Giri

Ravichandran Ashwin, during the recent IPL and the ODIs played in India, tormented the best of the batsmen with his off spin and was projected as the best Indian bowler by all.   Within a few weeks, he went to Australia and after the disastrous test series he was criticized by almost every one and branded as ‘not a so good’ bowler.

Why this sudden change of scenario? A man who controlled and fooled almost all the top batsmen in IPL, was suddenly found wanting. Well, that’s test cricket. Many spin bowlers were reduced to a dust when it comes to test cricket that too, in overseas condition.

When you bowl to quality batsmen in tests, they have all the time to read you and negotiate accordingly. There is no hurry for them to score quickly and so they don’t make mistakes. You don’t get that many chances in test cricket to get a batsman out, as in the limited overs.

If spinners want to survive long in test cricket, they need the following.

a.       Terrific control.

b.      Vicious spin.

c.       Clever variety.

d.      Never say die- Heart

Control, as you all know is nothing but accuracy. In test cricket, a spin bowler cannot compromise on line and length. It has to be precise throughout the spell. That’s the difference in various levels of cricket. A test spinner is supposed to bowl every ball in good length or where he intends to. Whether it is a ‘well flighted’ delivery or ‘lower trajectory’, the ball has to pitch exactly in the planned area.

I have seen in the past, almost all Indian spin bowlers with awesome control pitching the ball continuously where they wanted.  Whether it was a new ball or a old ball, they never messed up with line and length. But today, unfortunately every spin bowler bowls most of their deliveries with enough width, to be hammered. If they bowl two balls in good length, they are considered excellent spinner.

Next important factor is spin. There is lot of difference between turn and spin. A turning ball need not have good spin and a spinning ball not necessarily turns. You get ‘turn’, more out of pitch condition. The ball, if it gets enough ‘grip’ on the wicket surface, it turns. Even just few revolutions in the ball are enough to turn the ball on a rough surface.

But spin is something in the hands of the bowler. There are three parts involved in spin bowling – fingers, wrist and arm. If all three coordinate well, you get maximum spin on the ball. Spin is very important to get respect from the batsman. A bowler with vigorous spin, worry the batsman all the time.

Clever variety: At the highest level, you definitely need to have some variety to make the batsmen guess. If you keep bowling the same spinning or turning delivery, the batsmen in the test level, get accustomed quickly and play easily. The variety could be anything like- Arm ball, Faster one, Under cutter, Top spinner, Carrom ball, Doosra or the latest Teesra.

All, the bowler, has to do initially, is to show the batsmen that he possesses varieties and the batsmen immediately go under pressure. Bowling the variety ball in good area and in correct time is a real talent. Very few people skillfully utilize their variety.

Finally the spin bowler needs a good heart at the test level. I am of the opinion that you make a good spinner only if you get hammered in your earlier days. You should bowl in placid wickets to grinding batsmen to get that heart to bowl in tougher situation. Normally a spinner gets a ‘never say die’ heart only after he crosses 30 years or put on more years of experience. Till that time, they get seasoned.

Now, what is wrong with Ashwin?  Ravichandran Ashwin is a very clever bowler. There is no doubt about that. He is a thinker, plans well and fools the batsmen most times in other forms of cricket. In test cricket too, he was able to mesmerize the youngsters and beginners. In this Oz tour, he was able to remove the inexperienced batsmen quickly, but the experienced veterans like Ponting, Hussey and Clarke pulverized him.

When you analyze the tussle between Ashwin and the top Oz batsmen, Ashwin was comfortable bowling flatter as in limited over games. The batsmen were playing him easily with ones and twos. When he tried to toss the ball, these experienced batsmen came out easily and put him where ever they wanted.

In 60s and 70s, we have seen Bedi and Prasanna tossing up the ball to the great Aussie batsmen namely -Chappell, Walters , Redpath and Simpson and caused lots of problems to them. What was so special they did, which Ashwin couldn’t do now?

It is the spin factor. I have seen in the Indian team net practice, Bedi and Prasanna bowl with new ball and spin the ball madly. In fact I could hear the ‘fizz’ noise of the new ball spinning. They had supple fingers and gave enough tweak to the ball with only two or three fingers. They never used the thumb or palm which normally prevent the spin. They could spin the ball like a ‘spinning top’, yet put the ball on the spot. Such was their talent.

Ashwin is not a great finger spinner. He gives a mild tweak on the ball sideways and if the ball gets the surface grip, it turns. A good spinner spins the ball parallel to the pitch. That is, the seam should be facing the batsman and the spin should take place in the same direction to cause more problems for the batsmen. This is called over spin. If the bowler spins the ball sideways, it doesn’t worry the batsmen that much.

How to bowl an ideal off spin delivery?

1.      The off spinner must hold the ball with not more than three fingers. (Normally the fingers are kept on the seam, not across the seam). Thumb or palm should not touch the ball.

2.      Take comfortable easy fixed run up to the crease. Do not look at the crease at the time of the run up or delivery.

3.      At the time of delivery, go sideways, closer to the stumps, arc your body backwards, bring the body in front along with the arm.

4.       Aim and deliver the ball with a good tweak -using fingers, wrist and the arm to spin the ball to the maximum.

5.      Bring the body in front and bend enough to touch the ground after the delivery which is called the ‘follow through’.

6.      After delivery make sure, you move away from the danger zone.

When you follow the above steps, you get enough “venom” in your delivery. Because of your arc, body bending follow through and the spin, the ball which goes up in the air, suddenly drops down due to the over spin. This is called the “DIP”. When you get such dip, automatically you get the “NIP” which means the ball jumps high after pitching. This ‘dip’ & ‘nip’ phenomenon is the effect of following all the above conditions. This can be done in any wicket & in any condition.

When a spinner is able to get this dip, he can flight the ball courageously and invite the batsmen to come out and play. There is every chance of fooling the batsman in the air and the batsman also is not confident enough to come out, fearing the ball to dip and deceive him in the flight.

As I told earlier, spinners like Prasanna and Bedi used to flight the ball high up in the air to even the best batsmen, inviting them to come out. They would do this in any wicket (even in Australia, England, or in West Indies). The batsmen seeing the ‘dip’ fear to go out and finally try to play with in the crease and perish.

Ashwin, unfortunately is unable to do this. That’s the reason Clarke, Ponting and Hussey came out and drove him where ever they wanted. He must learn to spin more and also use the waist and follow -through effectively. If he gets that, he would be a menace. His line and length also was not ‘test class’. Because of insufficient spin on the ball, the batsmen were in no trouble, whenever the ball was pitched little short or full.

Typical example of fearsome off spinner in the world today is Pakistan’s Syed Ajmal. If you watch the replay of his bowling, you can see the above 6 steps being followed. He also possesses the required qualities for a classy spin bowler-Spin, Control, Variety & Heart.

About the Author: "Dr. V.V. Giri, a Michigan based Cricket Player, Coach & Journalist, is an avid follower and servant of the Game of Cricket. He is a highly talented off-spin bowler and an opening batsman. Dr. Giri was in the state squad for Tamil Nadu and has played Senior Division League in Chennai for a record number of years. He was the Cricket Secretary for the famous "Madras Cricket Club" in Chennai. Prior to settling down in U.S.A., he has played cricket in U.K. and Australia. He also toured several countries - U.S.A., Canada and many Far East countries with Teams from India to foster the game of cricket.

Dr. Giri has a Ph. D in Pharmaceutical Technology and has been involved in Research and Development of Drugs for many years. He is also a visiting faculty in many Universities in India. Dr. Giri is a great articulator."

India needs a whip!

By Dr. V.V. Giri

Team India cricket coach Duncan Fletcher faces a dilemma after player power and a lack of discipline helped account for India's 4-0 series loss to England. Former coach Gary Kirsten allowed the senior players to run the team. So was John Wright, few years before. 

The general consensus is that Fletcher was appointed as long as he continued with the same coaching style as Gary Kirsten. The senior players wanted that, they wanted Gary to stay on, but when that didn't happen, they wanted a like-for-like replacement.

Gary allowed the senior players and superstars to run the show and do their own thing. But then the team arrived in England totally unprepared, without any dedicated approach and no hunger there. India need a much firmer hand, superstars or not.

Fletcher was now "between a rock and a hard place. If he agreed to go with the Kirsten approach, he can't change now. The situation is crying out for more control and a firm hand, but if he does flex his muscles, the players won't like it and it is unclear whether the board will sanction a different approach.

India could not compete with an England team run by team director Andy Flower.

Flower takes a hard line, he's meticulous on fitness and there are no short cuts and he sets very high standards. The players and management can either buy into it or not be part of the team. He runs a very tight ship and the players have bought into it.

"The England players are technically very good at the moment in all three disciplines of the game. Due to their superior fitness and technical expertise, they have become used to winning, which has made them mentally strong and ruthless in their pursuit of excellence."

India is in dire straits at the moment. They need a coach of Greg Chappell caliber, or in short, they need a “Whip”.

DRS - 'Dravid Removal System'

By Dr.V.V.Giri

England paceman Stuart Broad appealed for a catch behind the wicket against Dravid in the first ODI , but umpire Billy Doctrove ruled the appeal not out. After England asked for a review, despite several replays, it could not be conclusively established that the ball edged off of Dravid’s bat. How on the earth Dravid was still given out can only be told by one man? - Third umpire Marais Erasmus. The umpires have become jokers in this series.

Rahul Dravid continues to be at the receiving end of controversial decisions on the current England tour as he was once again ruled out caught behind despite 'Hot Spot' not detecting an edge off his bat.

Earlier, in the third Test, Dravid was ruled caught-behind off James Anderson in India's second innings even though his bat had hit his shoelace, and not the ball.

Then, in the fourth Test, he was again given out caught-behind in India's second innings after a referral by England, even though the snickometer apparently showed that there was no contact between the ball and bat before it landed into England wicket-keeper Matt Prior's gloves.

These incidents are sure to fuel the DRS debate and add strength to BCCI's stand as they have opposed the adoption of DRS expressing doubts on technology.

On a different note, this England tour seems to have everything to do with Dravid. When India need runs, it's Dravid. When India need batsmen for Twenty20 and ODIs, it's Dravid. And when it comes to DRS controversies, it's Dravid who has to be on the receiving end of it.

This is ridiculous. There is literally only one player in the Indian team who challenges England in this current tour and he is also not allowed to carry on with his duty by the three umpires!! England team seemed to have targeted Rahul Dravid with the help of the so called neutral umpires!!!

MISSING 'MIDAS TOUCH' !!!

By Dr.V.V. Giri

“When Kapil bowls to Dean Jones, where will you field?”

Sunil Gavaskar asked Srikkanth, this question on the dinner table on the eve of India Australia match during the 1985 Benson Hedges World Cup in Australia. India went on to win the cup in a most convincing and easy way and as you all know, Ravi Shastri became “Champion of Champions” posing with “Audi” car.

This Cup victory was a typical example of “Planning” and “Home work” a team is expected to do before a cricket event. Every team does a good home work, SWOT analysis on their own as well as the opponents and has clear plans, back up plans etc. Planning is extremely important in Test cricket. The teams are provided with batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, psychologists, managers and a chief coach to help the captain to have options and plans.

Strangely, Indian captain M.S.Dhoni doesn’t believe in planning. In an interview after the World Cup, he openly admitted that he is not a planner and doesn’t believe in team meetings. In such case, I wonder why BCCI is wasting their money and time on coaches and sub staff for India.

We have often seen, Dhoni making blunders in reading the wicket, condition and opponents and end up with bad - toss selection as well as playing eleven selections. In the recently concluded World Cup, he made many mistakes in team composition (by including Piyush Chawla, Nehra and Sreesanth over Aswin) which nearly knocked India out of the World Cup.

This statement of Dhoni shocked many and people concluded that this captain was winning all the matches through instincts and sheer luck. Of course Dhoni is known for his “Midas touch” from the beginning, when he beat Pakistan in the T20 world Cup. From the West Indies tour this year, things are not working in his favor. Playing test matches outside especially in England is tough for any captain. India already suffered two defeats, where the fingers are pointing at the captain.

Now, is this the end of the glory days of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain who could do no wrong? Considering how India have fared in two Tests in which, in phases, they had as much of a chance as England to win, it is only right to conclude things have caught up with Dhoni.

Even in the extended theatre of Test cricket, opportunities do not come knocking more than once. And India spurned those two chances at Lord's and Trent Bridge and will probably slide freely back to old days and old ways. It was when the opportunities came knocking that the ever cool, super instinctive Dhoni joined the ordinary mortals who had led India before him.

The first instance came at Lord's when England were 92 for five and in danger of being bowled out. But Dhoni, who has been known to push on with his main bowlers like a strict task master more than many of his gentler predecessors, was inclined to agree with a young Ishant Sharma that he needed a rest, that too after a 40-minute luncheon break.

The second came when England, under grave threat of being bowled out under a Nottingham overcast sky, began counterattacking through Stuart Broad. It was here that Dhoni stood exposed. He was as clueless about how to get past Broad as many Indian captains before him who merely stood with their hands on their hips when the bowlers failed to deliver.

A once smart Dhoni, guided more by instinct than the ordinary rules of battle for engagement, had very little to offer. I know watching television is not the best way to come to easy conclusions. But it did seem as if the skipper had no clear guidance to give to his bowlers when they were being taken apart by boundary hits. There were no strategy time outs as it were to help his bowlers regroup and focus again on the task at hand.

Dhoni was never the one to overtly help bowlers by holding deep conversations with them. He was more the type to give them a free run once he chose a bowler to keep on in the attack. He was always seen as the ultra cool skipper who backed his bowlers to deliver. Somehow, those tactics, admirable as they always seemed, did not work at crucial junctures in the winner-take-all kind of Test series.

Adding to all these, his indifferent form with both his keeping and batting is haunting him. In the two tests in England, Dhoni was easily struggling in wicket keeping and he had no clue on the swing bowling.

India is facing an ‘English White Wash’ in this series. I think, Mahi won't be seen anymore as the “Captain with the Midas touch”.

HALF SPINNER!

By Dr. V.V. Giri


Off-spinner to half the spinner..!!.

What’s happening to the “Turbanator” these days? Just ‘one’ wicket in the recently concluded Trent Bridge test for 200 + runs!!

If you ask me the real reason for this ‘Naughty’gam defeat, I would squarely blame the Indian bowlers.

Those who watched the test match on TV will certainly agree with me. The conditions were for the bowlers. Ball was swinging madly and the bounce was just unpredictable. When a bowler of Praveen Kumar’s caliber & pace, was able to produce such a delivery that ‘took off’ suddenly and damaged the left (top) hand of the right hand batsman Swann, well, this wicket was a volcano.

In such wicket and condition, our pace bowlers except for PK, allowed the English team to recover from 120 for eight to 221 all out in the first innings. In the second, England scored a massive 544 when the conditions were the same. Praveen was able to worry the batsmen with his swing, but his lack of pace went against him.

What were Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth doing in these conditions? They let the Indian side down badly. If they had bowled even 25% of what the English bowlers did, we could have given some fight in this match. Both were bowling like school boys without line, length, pace, swing or effort. We witnessed just mediocre bowling.

When you analyze the match, this Indian spineless bowling was the main reason for this debacle. The batting was tough. This we noticed in England first innings and during Indian’s both outings. The wicket behaved unplayable. Even seasoned campaigner Dravid struggled throughout. So once again our boys proved that without Zaheer, Indian bowling is nil.

In this match, in particular, and in other matches of this tour, Harbhajan could not have done anything special but my concern today is his recent form and ability. He is not the same Bhajji, we have seen before this year.

In his last 14 Tests, Harbhajan has picked up just one five-for and 50 wickets at 40.60 apiece. And those wickets have a very high percentage of lower-order batsmen

The year was 2001, when Team India scripted one of the most remarkable comebacks in Test cricket history. Australia toured India for a three-match Test series and was beaten 1-2 from a point where it looked like they would conquer their “final frontier.”

A young off-spinner by the name Harbhajan Singh, was making a return to the Test squad after a gap of more than a year. His series tally of 32 wickets, coupled with VVS Laxman’s heroics with the bat, helped India beat Steve Waugh’s Australia to help usher in a new era in Indian cricket. India found a new hero and the fans felt that they could look beyond Anil Kumble for a world class spinner.

I don’t really believe statistics, but I just want to mention the difference in performance before and now.

Ten years on, that same off-spinner has played more than 90 Test matches and has picked up more than 400 wickets. However, over the last one year his performances have gone down and he hasn’t shown the effectiveness that he displayed so consistently in his career.

As one of the celebrated commentators might say “this man only looks like Harbhajan but doesn’t bowl anything like him.” The “Turbanator” has started bowling a lot flatter which has meant the turn, the flight and the ‘doosra’ have all-together disappeared. 

This article dwells deep into his performances over the last year to find out what has gone wrong. 

Here are his Test match career stats to date: 

<><> <> <><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <> <><> <> <><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <> <><> <>

Tests	Wickets	Average	5 WI	10 WM	Innings Best	Match Best
97	405	32.13	25	5	8-84	15-217

<><> <> <><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <> <><> <> <><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <><><> <> <><> <>At a glance, one may say that these figures are pretty impressive and indicate the mark of a fantastic bowler. However, these numbers do not tell the entire story. They hide his performance over the last year which has been truly disappointing for a strike bowler. There is a massive downward slide in Harbhajan’s performance since the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in July 2010.

Here are his stats before and after the said Test match. These numbers do tell the real story and it does not paint a pretty picture: 

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Particulars	Tests	Wickets	Average	5 WI	10 WM	Innings Best	Match Best
Before Galle 2010	83	355	30.94	24	5	8/84	15/217
After Galle 2010	14*	50	40.60	1	0	7/120	7/195

*Including the Lord’s Test against England

In his last 14 Test matches, Harbhajan has averaged almost ten points more than what he used to average before the Galle Test match. As a result his overall career average has risen from 30.94 to 32.13. In this period he has picked up just one five-wicket haul which was against South Africa at Cape Town.

Prior to Galle 2010, a five-wicket haul used to come at an interval of almost three Test matches. An average of 40.60 indicates that he is conceding far too many runs per wicket - not something one expects from a premier spinner.

An alarming fact about his bowling over the last year has been the high percentage of lower order batsmen he has been dismissing. There can be an odd series where the percentage of lower order dismissals is high, but to maintain it over a year is not a good sign for any bowler. Here is a series - excluding the ongoing England-India series-wise break-up of his dismissals to indicate the high percentage of lower-order wickets.

For the purpose of this article, top order batsmen would constitute the top five of a batting line-up and the lower order shall constitute the rest. However, night-watchmen, irrespective of where they have batted have been considered to be a part of the lower order and the effective downward shift of the other batsmen in the batting order hasn’t been considered. These batsmen have been deemed to have batted at their original spots.

Here it is:

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Opponents	Test	Wickets	No 1-5	No 6-11	% of Lower order Wkts
Sri Lanka	2	2	2	0	0.00%
Australia	2	11	6	5	45.45%
NZ	3	10	5	5*	50.00%
SA	3	15	8	7**	46.67%
WI	3	11	4	7	63.63%

*Gareth Hopkins walked in as night watchman in the third Test.
**Paul Harris was the night watchman in the third Test.

The worrying factor for India is that the percentage in question is consistently over the 45% mark and, in fact, hit 63 in the series against the West Indies. Thus, his isn’t very effective against the top-order batsmen. Mind you, the lower order batsmen include the tailenders as well. It is his fast spinners - if you may call them spin - that are getting them out, but aren’t any cause of worry to the top five.

India plays with four specialist bowlers in their line-up. The fact that they lack a quality all-rounder puts even more responsibility on the four bowlers. Currently, Harbhajan’s performance is hurting team India as he isn’t picking up important wickets. This adds to the pressure on the likes of Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. It is because of his ineffectiveness with the old ball, the fast bowlers have to pull a rabbit out of the hat. India can ill-afford a strike bowler who is consistently inconsistent. A strike bowler is in the side to pick up wickets and not just roll the arm over to fill in the overs.

People may argue that he has 400 wickets to his name, but the bowler who has 400 wickets today and the one who had 355 wickets a year ago are two different players. The missing player has to return or the so-called “spinner” has to be replaced.

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh came under severe criticism from Wasim Akram for his performance at Lord's with the former Pakistan captain calling for the inclusion of leg-spinner Amit Mishra in his place. This was before Nottingham test. Now I am sure the entire nation will support Akram. 

"Harbhajan looked off-color at West Indies as well as at Lords & Trent Bridge. He got very little spin, his line was also very bad. On the other hand, Graeme Swann bowled beautifully though he didn’t get many wickets (as the fast bowlers were stealing the show). He showed a lot of variation,"  

"I do not remember one occasion when he bowled a bad ball. I think it's about time that Mishra came in. English batsmen have traditionally been poor against leg-spinners. Besides, Mishra is a very intelligent bowler. I saw him bowling in the IPL and he impressed me a lot.  To cut it short, Mishra should play in the next match,"  

Harbhajan should go back to local matches and work hard and get back his guile and rhythm.  If India wants to win Test matches consistently, especially in foreign conditions, it needs to have five bowlers in the team. But the main worry for the Indian team management is that having a fifth bowler in the team would put extra pressure on the six batsmen of the team. In such a case, it will augur well, if there is an all-rounder in the team, who can reduce the pressure of the strike bowlers Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar and bat at No. 6 or 7.

A good prospect for the all-rounder spot would be Irfan Pathan, who made his debut as swing bowler; and under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy found a hidden strength in the form of his batting. He has also scored a century in Test cricket against Pakistan in 2007.

With an all-rounder like Yuvraj Singh or Irfan Pathan, Indian team will not only be able to distribute the workload judiciously amongst the bowlers, but also strengthen the batting line-up; and hence find the right balance in the team. Indian team should try the above two prospects for the all-rounder spot to bring an equilibrium in the team.

I am reminded of the good old saying "When one door closes, another opens”. But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

A teary eye cannot help in getting a clear vision. As the dust settles down, Indian cricket fans on social media platforms have expectedly gone into an overdrive with their chest-beating and berating the Indian cricket team’s performance against England. There cannot be any arguments that what matters in the end is the final result and fans have a legitimate reason to be upset about the defeat in the first Test.

But if a holistic and unemotional view is taken of the match, Indian cricket fans would derive some satisfaction from the enormous gains from a losing Test.

Zaheer Khan’s value to the Indian attack is far greater than Sachin Tendulkar’s batting to the Indian line-up. While Tendulkar has several world class support, Zaheer is a long time lone ranger on whom the Indian attack and hopes revolve. When he walked away on Day One with a hamstring injury, India was fighting an unequal battle in the Test.

I understand both Harbhajan and Yuvraj are not available for the reminder of the series due to “Injuries”!! But the good news is Zaheer and Sehwag are likely to play the third test.

The Turbanator is out, but “The Terminators” are back! And that’s awesome news for a team that is in dire need of quality players.