5 times the five-bowler theory worked for India
For years, India have been a batting team. Cricket was a batsman’s game for them. MS Dhoni felt he needed the security of six batsmen apart from himself to avoid ignominious defeats. For a long time, he needed that security even with a middle order that read Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly, strange as that may seem.But new leaders generally come with new ideologies. And true to his style, with an air of characteristic diffidence and confidence mixed with arrogance, Virat Kohli in his full series as a skipper, under the tutelage of an equally aggressive Ravi Shastri, has opted for five bowlers.Ravi Shastri could be pardoned for believing in the five-bowler theory as he has, during his heydays, largely been part of a team that had multiple all-rounders - including the only man to take 400 wickets and score 5,000 runs.India digressed from the five-bowler theory in the mid-90s, after which they have never really produced a high-quality all-rounder and have relied on just four bowlers to do the job, something that has cost them dearly when enforcing wins. Here, we take a look at some excellent contests where India’s five bowler strategy won the day.
#1 Against South Africa, 1996
Very few remember Sachin Tendulkar’s exploits as a captain. It is said that a captain is just as good as his team, and he didn’t look bad at all during some tough encounters. Against a powerful and rampaging South African team, Sachin went for a five bowler attack and won a home series 2-1.
Sachin had Nayan Mongia opening which meant a long tale. However, he had five bowlers at his disposal. In the first two Tests, he had Narendra Hirwani, the leg-spinner, who was replaced in the third by Aashish Kapoor. The other four bowlers Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi picked 17, 13, 8 and 8 wickets respectively.
That technically meant India went with a two pacers–three spinners strategy with Sourav Ganguly being the extra medium pace bowler if needed.
India won the first and the third Tests, losing the second Test. Mohammad Azharuddin playing as a middle order batsman, won the Man of the Series. It was one of those rare instances in Indian cricket history when a brave captain went for five bowlers without really having the benefit of an out and out all-rounder.