The role of spin bowlers in procuring wins for India in its cricket battle against other nations, right from the 1960s, had been immense. In the Indian sub-continent conditions, spinners have dominated more than the pacers. Though on some occasions, the fast bowlers claim handful of wickets, it is spin bowling that had brought laurels to the nation.
Time and again, Indian spin bowlers have shown their prowess to power the nation to victory, the very recent one being Ravichandran Ashwin's emergence as an effective and crucial player. He struck telling blows in the second innings of the second Test in Kolkata to the visiting New Zealanders on October 3. On his career front too, on this day, he scalped his 400th international wicket with the dismissal of Ross Taylor.
Despite the dominance of fast bowlers in the first innings of the Test and the fact that the pitch in Eden Gardens was not conducive to spin bowling, Ashwin with his loop and drift, spelt doom in the Kiwis' second innings.
In the first Test in Kanpur, the spinners, especially Ashwin, paved the way for a win by Virat Kohli and his men. When the Kiwis were going great guns, with Kane Williamson and Latham putting on a great partnership and the New Zealanders were 159 for 2 at the end of Day 2 of the match, Kohli was helpless. The Indian captain then brought in Ashwin early on Day 3 and the latter didn't dash his hopes. Ashwin struck a crucial blow by dismissing Latham. After a few overs, he dismissed Williamson and the Kiwis late order batsmen were all at sea against the guiles of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The two spinners shared 9 wickets between them viz. Jadeja 5 for 73 and Ashwin 4 for 93.
Once again in the second innings, Ashwin dominated by spinning a web around the Kiwis batsmen. He took 6 for 132 and became the fastest Indian to claim 200 wickets in Tests (37 Tests). Virat Kohli and his men won the first Test against New Zealand and led the series 1-0.
Prior to the emergence of Ashwin and Jadeja, the Indian spin scene was dominated by Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Amit Mishra, Dileep Doshi, Shivlal Yadav, Maninder Singh, Venkatapathy Raju, Narendra Hirwani, Rajesh Chouhan and Pragyan Ojha.
These players were preceded by veterans like B.S. Bedi, B.S. Chandrasekhar, EAS Prasanna and S. Venkataraghavan.
A look at some of the spinning giants:
B.S. Bedi: The former Indian captain made his debut in the 1966-67 series against West Indies in Kolkata. With Chandrasekhar, Venkataraghavan and Jaisimha in the ranks, Bedi took 2 for 92 in his debut match. His two wickets in the first Test were that of Butcher and Lloyd. He captained Indian side for 22 Test matches. He played 67 matches and took 266 wickets at an average of 28.71. He took 14 five-wicket hauls. His economy rate is a staggering one at 2.14. His best bowling figure was 7 for 98.
B.S. Chandrasekhar : Bhagwath Subramanya Chandrasekhar made his Test debut in 1964 against England in Mumbai. He, along with Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan, was famously called the Indian spin quartet. At young age, Chandrasekhar had his right arm withered due to polio attack. He played 58 Test matches, capturing 242 wickets at an average of 29.74. His best bowling figure was 8 for 79. His average is only 2.70 and he took 16 five-wicket hauls. He claimed 4 for 67 in his debut Test and his first wicket was that of Knight.
E.A.S. Prasanna: Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna made his Test debut in 1962 against England in then Madras. Prasanna did not take any wicket in the first innings but removed Millman in the second innings. Also with Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan, Prasanna has brought in many of victories for the country. He played 49 Tests, capturing 189 wickets at an average of 30.38. His economy rate is 2.40 and his bowling figure was 8 for 76. He took 10 five-wicket hauls in his career.
S. Venkataraghavan: Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan made his Test debut in 1965 against New Zealand in then Madras. His first Test wicket was that of Dowling. He took 2 for 90 in his debut match. He played 57 Tests, taking 156 wickets at an average of 36.11. His economy rate is 2.27. He took only 3 five-wicket hauls. He captained the Indian ODI side in the 1975 and 1979 Prudential World Cups in England. After his retirement from Test cricket in 1983, Venkataraghavan became an international umpire. He became the first Indian to be named in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. Later he also became a ICC match referee.
Dileep Doshi: The bespectacled left-arm spinner from Gujarat made his Test debut in 1979 against Australia in then Madras. It was indeed a splendid debut for him, as he took 6 for 103 in the match. His first wicket was that of Wood. He took 2 for 64 in the second innings. He played 33 Tests and took 114 wickets at an average of 30.71. His economy rate was 2.25. He has 6 five-wicket hauls in Tests.
Shivlal Yadav: Nandlal Shivlal Yadav made his Test debut in 1979 against Australia in Bangalore. Yadav took 4 for 49 in the first innings and his first wicket was that of Hilditch. He took 3 for 32 in the second innings. He played 35 Tests, taking 102 wickets at an average of 35.09. His economy rate was 2.56. He has taken three five-wicket hauls.
Maninder Singh: Maninder Singh from Maharashtra made his Test debut in Karachi against Pakistan in 1982. He wicketless in the match. He played only 35 Tests, taking 88 wickets with 7 for 27 as his best figures. His economy rate is 2.40. He has taken three five-wicket hauls.
L. Sivaramakrishnan: Laxman Sivaramakrishnan made his debut against West Indies at St. John's in 1982-83 season. He went wicketless in that Test. Sivaramakrishnan played only 9 Tests and has taken 26 wickets with 6 for 64 as his best. In his short career, he has taken three five-wicket hauls. His economy in Test was 2.90. Sivaramakrishnan has played 16 ODIs and has taken 15 wickets with 3 for 35 as his best.
Ravi Shastri: Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri made his Test debut against New Zealand at Wellington in 1980-81 season. It was indeed a memorable debut for Shastri as he took six wickets in that Test. His first wicket was Jeremy Coney. Ravi Shastri has played 80 Tests, scalped 151 wickets at an average of 40.96. Shastri's best bowling was 5 for 75. His economy in Test was 2.35. He has taken only two five-wicket hauls in his career. Apart from Tests, Shastri has played 150 ODIs taking 129 wickets in the process. His best bowling figures was 5 for 15.
Venkatapathy Raju: Sagi Lakshmi Venkatapathy Raju from Hyderabad made his Test debut in 1990 against New Zealand in Christchurch. His first wicket was a big one that of Martin Crowe. He took 3 for 86 in the first New Zealand innings. He played 28 Tests, taking 93 wickets with 6 for 12 as his best. He has taken five five-wicket hauls in his career.
Narendra Hirwani: Narendra Deepchand Hirwani, the leg-spinner made an astounding debut against West Indies in 1988 in Chennai. He took 16 wickets in the match. His first wicket was that of Richie Richardson. In the match, he took 16 for 136. He played only 17 Tests, taking 66 wickets, with 8 for 61 being his best. His economy rate was 2.77. He has taken four five-wicket hauls.
Harbhajan Singh: Harbhajan Singh made his Test debut in 1998 against Australia in Bangalore. He took 2 for 112 in the first innings and his first wicket was that of Greg Blewett. He played 103 Tests, taking 417 wickets, with 8 for 84 being his best. His economy in Tests is 2.84. He has taken 25 five-wicket hauls and 5 10-wicket hauls. The wily off-spinner played a stellar role in the India-Australia series in 2001.
Rajesh Chouhan: Rajesh Chouhan made his debut against England in Kolkata in 1993. He took five wickets in the match. His first wicket was that of Mike Gatting. He played only 21 Tests, taking 47 wickets, with 4 for 48 as his best. His economy rate in Tests was 2.34. He, along with Anil Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju, enabled India to win matches.
Anil Kumble: Anil Kumble made his Test debut in 1990 against England in Manchester. He took 3 for 105 in his first innings and his first wicket was that of lan Lamb. That was the beginning for Anil Kumble. He went to become the highest wicket-taker for India. He also took 10 for 74 in an innings against Pakistan in New Delhi. The current Indian head coach has played 132 Tests, taking 619 wickets at an average of 29.65 with 10 for 74 as his best. He has taken 35 five-wicket hauls and 8 ten-wicket hauls in his career. His economy rate was 2.69. Kumble also had a fantastic ODI career. He took 337 wickets in 271 matches with 6 for 12. His economy rate was 4.30. He has taken 2 five-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Amit Mishra: After Kumble, this leg-spinner from Delhi made a mark. He made his Test debut against Australia at Mohali in 2008. It was a fantastic debut for him. He took five wickets in the first innings. His first dismissal was Simon Katich. He took further two wickets in the second innings. He has played 20 Tests till now, taking 71 wickets at an average of 34.36 with 5 for 71 as his best. His economy rate is 3.14 in Tests. He has played in 31 ODIs, scalping 49 wickets at an average of 26.44 with 6 for 48 as his best.
Pragyan Ojha: Pragyan Prayash Ojha from Orissa made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Kanpur in 2009. He took three wickets in the first innings and his first Test wicket was that of Mahela Jayawardene. He also took three wickets in the second innings. It was indeed a decent debut for him. Ojha played 24 Tests, taking 113 wickets at an average of 30.26, with 6 for 47 as his best. His economy rate was 2.68. The left-arm spinner also played 18 ODIs, taking 21 wickets, with 4 for 38 as his best. His economy in ODI is 4.46.
Ravichandran Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin from Chennai made his Test debut against West Indies in Delhi in 2011. The debut was indeed a good one for him. He took 9 for 128 and bagged the man-of-the-match award in the match. Ashwin has played 37 Tests till now, taking 203 wickets at an average of 25.06. His economy rate is 2.93 in Tests. His bowling performance is 7 for 66. He has taken 19 five-wicket hauls and 5 10-wicket hauls till now. He has played in 102 ODI, scalping 142 wickets at an average of 31.73. His economy rate in ODIs is 4.85.
Ravindra Jadeja: Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja from Saurashtra made his Test debut against England int Nagpur in 2012. He took three wickets in the match. His first wicket was that of Trott. Till now, he has played 18 Tests, taking 77 wickets, with 6 for 138 being his best at an average of 23.29. His economy rate is 2.21 in Tests. He made his debut in ODIs in 2009. In 126 ODIs, he has taken 147 wickets at an average of 34.55, with 5 for 36 as his best. His economy rate is 4.87 in ODis. In Tests, he has taken 5 five-wicket hauls.
Now, India has played its 500th Test. The memorable Test was played against New Zealand in Kanpur. India thrashed New Zealand by 197 with spinners taking 16 wickets out of 20 wickets.
Team India has had very good fast bowlers like Karsan Ghavri (109 wickets in 39 Tests), Kapil Dev (434 wickets in 131 Tests), Javagal Srinath (236 wickets in 67 Tests) and Zaheer Khan (311 wickets in 92 Tests). The current pace bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have done considerably well in Tests. In Tests, India has played 500 Tests won 130, lost 157 and drawn 212 and the historic tie against Australia at Chepauk.
Despite the match-winning performances from Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, India has won more than 70 per cent of the matches due to spinners.
