Australia and Indian off-spinners: Traditional rivals
The Australians are here and just like any other Test series in India, spin is the buzzword. Even though the Indian spinners were recently outsmarted and out bowled by England‘s spinning duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, it still remains the most potent weapon in the Indian armory.
Given the lack of quality tweakers and an inexperienced batting line-up in the opposition camp, the selectors decision to beef up the spin department by recalling Harbhajan Singh seems logical. The Turbanator has had an ordinary return in the domestic circuit but his past record against the Australians – 81 wickets in 12 matches in India – was too good to be overlooked.
In fact, a closer look at the Test history of the two countries would reveal that generally the Indian off-spinners have had an upper hand against the Aussies. Much before Harbhajan bamboozled Steve Waugh’s all conquering Australian team in 2001, there have been a few other Indian off-break bowlers who have made the Aussies sit up and take notice.
Way back in 1959, the unassuming Jasubhai Patel spun his web of tricks to lead India to its first ever Test victory over Australia at Kanpur. Bowling on a newly laid track against the likes of Neil Harvey, Norman O’Neill and Richie Benaud, Patel picked up 9 wickets for 69 runs in the first innings, an effort that remained the best by an Indian bowler in an innings till Anil Kumble’s perfect ten act against Pakistan. He returned to pick up five more in the second essay to bundle out the visitors for 105 and square the series 1-1.
Though his Test career stalled after the season, Patel’s exploits started a trend that gradually became a major factor in India-Australia contests.
Ten years later, in 1969, it was the crafty Erapalli Prasanna who weaved his magic to set up a 7 wicket win for India at Delhi. Bowling alongside equally distinguished spinners in Bishen Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Prasanna gave a master class in off-spin bowling as he picked up nine wickets, including a five-for in the second innings to restrict India’s target to 181.
He was one those rare spinners who enjoyed success in Australia as well. Touring Down-Under in the 1967-68 season, India suffered a humiliating 4-0 whitewash but Prasanna managed to return with his head held high, picking up 25 scalps at 27.44 apiece, including two five wickets haul. On hard, unresponsive tracks, the wily off-spinner relied on his immaculate control of flight and guile to lull batsmen into their dismissal.
Though Shivlal Yadav is not rated highly in the pantheon of Indian spinners, he contributed handsomely (24 wickets at 24.04 in 5 matches) in his debut series to script a rare series victory against Australia in 1979. A steady off break bowler, Yadav didn’t have a bagful of tricks but more than made up for it with his persistence and discipline. He too tasted some success in Australia, most notably in 1986 at the SCG in Sydney, where he picked up an 8 wicket match haul and nearly pulled off a victory for India.
Then of course, there is that series that heralded a new chapter in Indian cricket. Riding on Harbhajan Singh’s 13 wicket haul, during the course of which he became the first Indian bowler to claim a hat-trick in Test cricket, India scripted a turnaround of mammoth proportions to register a 171 run victory at Kolkata.
The mercurial man from Jalandhar went on to better his performance in the third Test at Chennai, picking up 15 wickets, and helped India snatch a narrow 2 wicket victory to take the series 2-1. Since then, Harbhajan has had many run-ins against Australia and apart from producing riveting on field contests, there also has been the odd ugly incident like the Sydneygate.
With veterans Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey bowing out, there will be quite a few batsmen for the visitors playing their first Test in India. Given the fact that the likes of David Warner, Ed Cowan, Philip Hughes, Usmaan Khawaja and Matthew Wade are all left-handers and relatively untested against quality spin, there is no reason why Harbhajan, should he feature in the playing XI, and Ravichandran Ashwin carry forward the legacy of Indian off-spinners against Australia.