Test previews / Andrew Hughes / 06 October 2008 /

Two spinners bowling in tandem is a rare occurrance in Test Match cricket these days but India wouldn't have it any other way with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh very much the key men in their bowling line-up, says Andrew Hughes.

Once upon a time, having two spinners in your side was as much a part of cricket orthodoxy as wearing whites and applauding politely. The Australians had Grimmett and O'Reilly; West Indies skittled England in 1950 thanks to Ramadhin and Valentine and England in turn had Laker and Lock operating in devastating tandem. India's fine tradition of spin bowling reached its apogee in the 1970s with the quartet of Chandrasekhar, Prasanna, Bedi and Venkataraghavan.

But with the advent of covered pitches and increasing fitness levels amongst quicker bowlers, the thrill of watching a pair of world-class spinners operate in tandem has largely gone out of the game. These days, it is rare to find more than a solitary spinner in operation. Warne and Murali, the two modern greats, worked alone. Murali's partnership with Mendis has great potential but that is for the future. In any case it is arguable whether Mendis is even a spinner.

Only in Asia and particularly India, has it remained a regular tactic to employ two spinners and for most of the last ten years, that pair has been Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. They are, in many respects, an unlikely duo. There is ten years difference between them, for a start. Kumble, the polite, dignified current Test captain is universally popular. The antagonistic Harbhajan, who so often appears to engage mouth or indeed fists before brain, is arguably the most unpopular cricketer on the planet. It is tempting to suggest they reflect the before and after of a change in India itself, with Harbhajan representative of a brasher, wealthier and altogether less deferential country.

Whatever their personalities, their playing styles complement each other to great effect. Ever since he stopped worrying about how far he could turn his leg break, Kumble has become a master of his craft. Bounding up to the wicket, he hits the pitch hard, generating considerable bounce, employing loop, flight and all the varieties of leg spin, turning them just enough to do the damage. He has been effective on pitches all around the world, from Kingston to Headingley. Nicknamed 'Atlas', he has carried the weight of the Indian bowling on his shoulders more than once.

Harbhajan is a more fragile but equally effective operator. Capable of spinning the ball prodigiously and bowling the one that goes away from the bat, his loopy twirly action has on occasions been scrutinised for its legality and in times of low confidence, he can fire it in too fast. But when his tail is up and on his home turf in particular, he can be deadly, extracting vicious turn and extra bounce, just as he did in 2001 when Steve Waugh's Aussies had no answer to the 'Turbanator'.

If Kumble and Harbhajan are not quite up there with the great quartet of the 1970s, they are a formidable pairing and whilst quick bowlers have come and gone around them, they remain the core of the Indian bowling. Their partnership may, however, be reaching its finale. Kumble's captaincy has come in for a lot of criticism and at thirty-seven, the end may well be nigh, particularly as the next cabs off the spin bowling rank, Amit Mishra and Piush Chawla, are both leg spinners. When Atlas finally departs, the spotlight will inevitably shift to Harbhajan. He has the ability and the experience to lead the Indian spin bowling for the next ten years. Whether he has the temperament remains to be seen.

With both batting sides evenly matched, Harbhajan and Kumble will represent India's trump cards in the upcoming series with Australia. The weakness of the Australian spin bowling was illustrated by the fearful caning that Jason Krejza and back-up spinner Michael Clarke took against the Indian Board President's XI. The Aussies will be hoping that talk of a fast surface for Thursday's First Test in Bangalore proves accurate and can be backed at [3.65] to get off to a winning start. But if the pitch deteriorates as it did against Pakistan last autumn, then the [3.4] about an Indian win could look very generous.

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