Playing spin on a responsive track is a vanishing art.
It calls for belief in your defensive skills, playing a lot of deliveries late and off your back-foot even if there is the danger of the odd ball keeping low, use of feet and judicious stroke-play.
The India Red batsmen did not display these attributes as the side went down by an innings and 187 runs to India Blue in the Duleep Trophy final at the N.P.R. College ground here on Friday.
Several strokes reeked of desperation and a lack of confidence to survive on this track.
On a brown, dusty pitch, Red lost its last five wickets for 45 runs in just 10.5 overs on day four to be bundled out for 172.
Exploiting the dark patches were left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and part-time off-spinner Deepak Hooda, who picked five wickets apiece.
The two recognised batsmen departed soon. The left-handed Ishan Kishan came forward to defend Saurabh and saw the ball getting big on him to be picked up at short-leg. And Writtick Chatterjee could not keep down a delivery spinning into him from Hooda.
Despite Hooda’s second innings wickets, the men who made the difference for Blue were its two left-arm spinners Swapnil Singh and Saurabh.
India Red captain Abhinav Mukund said: “We missed a left-arm spinner.”
Facing a left-arm spinner on a conducive track can be demanding. The sharp away turn makes this breed of bowlers a natural threat to the right-handers while the southpaws often have to grapple with deliveries travelling into or across them with a leg-side cordon in place.
If the lanky Swapnil, using the crease and hitting the right areas, turned the game around in first innings with a five-wicket haul, the much shorter Saurabh, tormented Red in the second.
He flighted the ball, turned it off the surface and was aided by the unpredictable bounce. The Uttar Pradesh lad often seeks guidance from the great Bishan Singh Bedi. “He encourages me to bowl with a big heart.”
Batting first was a distinct advantage on this pitch. “We were lucky with the toss but we also played some good cricket,” said victorious skipper Faiz Fazal.
Abhinav said: “You saw the difference between batting first and second here. Some balls jumped off a length.”
India Blue — 1st innings: 541.
India Red — 1st innings: 182.
India Red — 2nd innings: Sanjay Ramaswamy st. Smit b Saurabh 11, Abhinav Mukund st. Smit b Saurabh 46, B. Sandeep c Smit b Saurabh 22, Ashutosh Singh c Fazal b Hooda 5, Siddhesh Lad b Hooda 0, Ishan Kishan c Anmolpreet b Saurabh 30, Writtick Chatterjee c Bhui b Hooda 15, Pervez Rasool (not out) 15, Mihir Hirwani c Smit b Saurabh 5, Prasidh Krishna b Hooda 7, Ishan Porel c Gangta b Hooda 6, Extars (b-4, lb-4, nb-2): 10, Total (in 38.5 overs): 172.
Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-60, 3-71, 4-71, 5-101, 6-134, 7-136, 8-143, 9-162.
India Blue bowling: D. Kulkarni 5-1-15-0, J. Unadkat 3-0-27-0, D. Hooda 14.5-1-56-5, Saurabh Kumar 13-1-51-5, Swapnil 3-0-15-0.
Player-of-the-match: Nikhil Gangta.
