Indian pitches no hurdle for the great bowlers

The hallmark of a great bowler is that he is able to take wickets everywhere - in any climactic conditions, on all kinds of pitches and against the strongest opposition. But when it comes to Indian turf, all kinds of theories have been propounded. The pitches in this country have traditionally been either bald spin tracks or batsman friendly strips. Given this background, visiting fast bowlers have generally been apprehensive of their chances in India, even after taking into account the perpetual weakness of Indian batsmen against pace. Visiting spin bowlers might fancy their chances of being successful, until one also considers the fact that Indian batsmen have always been excellent players of the turning ball.

The fact remains that if the bowler is outstanding, he will overcome any hurdle and be successful. This is true of Indian conditions, no matter what the theorists may pontificate. A glance at the bowlers who have done well in India over the years makes it a complete list - fast bowlers, medium pacers, bowlers who are experts at swing and cut, left arm spinners, off spinners, leg spinners et al. Let's take a look at the long list of great bowlers who have taken Indian conditions in their stride, blasted the baseless theories out of shape and done well in this country - with a couple of famous exceptions which shall be dealt with at the end.

Fast bowlers: Some of the breed have indeed found it heart breaking to bowl quick on Indian pitches. Even Brian Statham took only eight wickets in five Tests in 1951-52 at over 36 apiece. But then he was a rookie in only his second season of international cricket. Before him, the West Indian spearhead Prior Jones took 17 wickets in five Tests in 1948-49. And in 1956-57, Ray Lindwall, though past his best, still took 12 wickets in three Tests at 16.62 each including figures of seven for 43 in India's second innings in the first Test at Madras. Two years later Wesley Hall and Roy Gilchrist proved that fast bowlers could be positively destructive. Hall took 30 wickets in five Tests and Gilchrist 26 in four Tests as West Indies registered three successive victories. A year later, Alan Davidson displayed his class. Even on pitches that blunted his left arm pace, he finished with 29 wickets in five Tests. His successor as the Australian spearhead, Graham McKenzie too enjoyed bowling in India. In 1964-65, he took 13 wickets in three Tests at a little over 16 apiece. Five years later, he was still good enough to take 21 wickets in five Tests at 21 each. In 1974-75, Andy Roberts displayed skill and stamina in taking 32 wickets at just over 18 apiece in five Tests. Two years later, Bob Willis finished the five match series with 20 wickets at 16.75 apiece. In 1983-84, India were laid low in the six Test series by the twin menace of Malcolm Marshall (33 wickets) and Michael Holding (30 wickets). And four years later, another great West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh proved his class by taking 26 wickets in four Tests. For good measure, he added another 17 in three Tests in 1994-95. Two years later, Allan Donald, despite limited opportunities, took ten wickets in three innings at 14.10 apiece. And Pakistan's great fast bowlers Imran Khan and Wasim Akram have not exactly been failures on the tours of India.

Medium pacers: Normally one would associate this breed of bowlers to have the least success in Indian conditions. But the outstanding players have still extracted enough from generally docile Indian pitches to come up trumps. In 1948-49, West Indies' Gerry Gomez picked up 16 wickets in a high scoring five match series. In 1952-53, Pakistan's master of cut and swing Fazal Mahmood took 20 wickets in five Tests. In 1964-65, Bruce Taylor, who went on to become New Zealand's leading wicket taker, took 15 wickets in three Tests in his debut series. In 1969-70, Dayle Hadlee of New Zealand in three Tests, took 13 wickets at less than 14 apiece. In 1972-73, England's swing bowler Geoff Arnold took 17 wickets in four Tests at less than 18 apiece, playing a leading role in his team's victory at New Delhi. Four years later, Richard Hadlee emulated the deeds of his brother by taking 13 wickets in three Tests. When he came back to India, in 1988-89, he was not only the master of cut and swing but also the world record holder and he added another 18 scalps at only 14 apiece. Debutante John Lever made life hell for the Indian batsmen with his medium paced swing in 1976-77 when he took 26 wickets cheaply to star in England's triumph. And Ian Botham, even after being confronted with particularly dead wickets in 1981-82, showed his class by picking up 17 wickets in a six Test series in which India had only one innings in almost all the games.

Left arm spinners: The first bowler to do well in India in the very first Test series played in this country was a left arm spinner. Hedley Verity, who ranks among the best of his type in the game (he was good enough to dismiss Don Bradman nine times) took 23 wickets in the three games at just under 17 apiece. Another leading exponent of this art from England, Tony Lock captured 22 wickets in 1961-62. Eight years later, New Zealand's ace spinner Hedley Howarth took 12 wickets in three Tests at just over 18 apiece. But easily the most successful left arm spin bowler in Indian conditions has been Derek Underwood. In three visits to India (1972-73, 1976-77 and 1981-82) he took a total of 54 wickets from 15 Tests. `Deadly' played a leading role in England's triumph on the second tour with 29 wickets.

Off spinners: England's leading off spinner on the tour of India in 1951-52, Roy Tattersall lived upto his reputation by taking 21 wickets in five Tests. For long under the shadow of the great Jim Laker, he thrived on the additional responsibility, doing much to shape England's victory at Kanpur. Ten years later, David Allen, who had succeeded Laker as England's leading off spinner, took the same number of wickets in five Tests. Bettering this record in 1963-64 was Fred Titmus, who finished with 27 wickets in five Tests - a notable feat considering the particularly docile pitches prepared for that rubber. Lance Gibbs predictably enough, did very well in the 1966-67 series. In three Tests, he picked up 18 wickets. But all these feats were put in the shade by Ashley Mallett. The Australian off spinner captured 28 wickets in five Tests in 1969-70. The peerless Gibbs added to his tally of 1966-67 by taking another 21 wickets in 1974-75. The tradition off great off spinners doing well in India was maintained by Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan. In two Tests in 1999-2000, he took 20 wickets at just over 15 apiece and then added four more wickets in the Asian Test Championship match at Calcutta.

Leg spinners: By far the most successful leg spinner in Indian conditions has been Richie Benaud. In eight Tests in this country spread over two tours - 1956-57 and 1959-60 - Benaud captured 52 wickets. After a bag of 23 wickets in three Tests on the first tour, where he played a leading role in the victories at Madras and Calcutta, Benaud was as much a menace on the latter tour.

As I said, for any rule there will be a few exceptions. Considering his reputation after capturing 41 wickets the previous season in the Ashes series against England, Rodney Hogg was a major disappointment when he came with Kim Hughes' Australian team in 1979-80, taking only 11 wickets in six Tests. And given his stature, Abdul Qadir was certainly a failure. In six Tests, spread over two tours to this country, the Pakistan leg spinner took only six wickets at prohibitive cost. But easily the most remarkable exception has been that of Shane Warne. One of the greatest spin bowlers of all time, Warne was at the peak of his powers when he came to India in 1997-98. But first Navjot Sidhu softened him up and then Sachin Tendulkar took him apart in the three Tests and the Australian leg spinner had the sorry figures of ten wickets at 54 apiece.