L Siva: Bahutule a better choice than Hirwani
Anand Vasu - 25 February 2001
Every time the Australians come to India there is one overlying fear. Is
the threat of Shane Warne potent enough to scare the Indians into serving
up pitches that don't turn? Past experience suggest that this is certainly
not the case. Yet, there seems to be endless discussion about the playing
surfaces India should prepare. The absence of India's lethal weapon Anil
Kumble only heightened these fears. After ages India called up three leg
spinners to the preparatory camp. Sairaj Bahutule, WD Balaji Rao and
Narendra Hirwani got a chance to peddle their wares and catch the eye of
the captain and the coach and of course the selectors. At the end of the
camp Hirwani got the nod despite his disadvantages in the fielding, batting
and fitness departments.
There was another man at the camp, not just this time around but in 1998 as
well. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has long been out of contention for national
selection. Yet, Tendulkar unfailingly asks for 'LS' as Siva is known to his
mates when he needs practice against quality leg spin bowling. "Tendulkar
basically wanted practice batting against a leg spinner bowling into the
rough outside leg stump," explained Siva in a chat with CricInfo on Sunday.
"We made some rough footmarks outside the leg stump and then bowled. Many
batsmen had a go but it was mostly Tendulkar who wanted to practice in this
manner," he continued. Surely, Tendulkar could achieve the same results
with a young leg spinner who fancied his chances? Apparently not. Talking
to Siva while the 35-year-old former India leg spinner was playing a match
for his corporate side India Cements it was immediately clear that this was
a man who knew what he was talking about.
"Shane Warne is a great leg spinner. No doubting that. He isn't doing so
well here because he's bowling a bit on the shorter side," said Siva. "Even
if you take the game against Mumbai, you would have noticed that he got
most of his wickets when the batsman gave him the charge. Only Vinod Kambli
got out to a genuinely good ball," he went on. Indeed, even a great bowler
like Warne will have to adapt if he wants to be successful in Indian
conditions.
"Adaptability is the key. The hallmark of a great team is the ability to
beat anyone away. Simply winning at home won't do," said Siva. "Take Clive
Lloyd's great West Indian team. They beat England in England, went to
Australia and won there. When they came to India, they once again showed
that they were world beaters," he concluded.
Coming to the selection of Hirwani at 32, Siva was a bit skeptical "If the
Australian top order collapses, Hirwani will be a good bowler to have in
your side. The Australian lower order are not great against spin. If that
doesn't happen though, I'm not sure Hirwani is the best choice available,"
opined Siva. "Sairaj Bahutule would have been the ideal choice. He has a
bit more variety with the ball and there's no doubt that his youth is a
bonus. He fields better and is no mug with the bat. It's a game of five
days remember. With age on his side Bahutule would have been able to go the
distance better," he added. "Also, if you have Bahutule in the side, you
can go into the game with five bowlers, using him and Nayan Mongia as the
sixth batsman," explained Siva.
There is more than one valid point in the line of thinking that `LS'
expounds. Bowling spin might not be in a very healthy state in India at the
moment. But surely, there's no paucity of knowledge about the art.
© CricInfo