Like wine, he is getting better with age

As he celebrates his 31st birthday today, Venkatpathi Raju knows his career is at the crossroads. He has not played a Test since the game against Australia at Bangalore in March 1998. Comebacks are not generally fashionable in Indian cricket, especially when there are so many talented youngsters waiting in the wings for the India cap. But the fact remains that the second spinner's spot in the Indian team is still vacant. In the time since Raju played his last Test, Anil Kumble has admirably carried on the task of being India's chief wicket taker with the turning ball. But he has received very poor support. In Tests against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the period 1998-2000, the second spinner's slot has been filled without conspicuous success by Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Joshi, Murali Karthik, Nikhil Chopra, Vijay Bhardwaj and Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Sometimes even Sachin Tendulkar has been used as the second spinner.

It is a pity that spin, Indian cricket's traditional strength, has been reduced to such a pass. And Raju, especially with his excellent record of late, would appear to be the leading claimant for being Kumble's partner in the turning ball trade. Indeed, he did, along with Kumble and Rajesh Chauhan, form a fine spin trio which looked to be shaping into a durable combination in the mid 90s. But Chauhan fell off the pedestal, chiefly because of doubts raised over his action. Raju was in and out of the side in the late 90s as the selectors either opted for bowlers like Joshi, Narendra Hirwani, Aashish Kapoor and Nilesh Kulkarni or unwisely took the field with only Kumble as the specialist spinner.

But then Raju's rise has not been meteoric but steady. Moreover resilience has always been one of the left arm spinner's main qualities. He made his Test debut in New Zealand as a 20-year-old in 1990, made the trip to England later that year and back home he was good enough to win a Test virtually on his own steam when he took six for 12 in the Sri Lankan first innings in Chandigarh to shape an Indian victory by an innings. He showed he could really turn the ball on a wicket even slightly helpful without compromising on the basic qualities of line and length.

Raju thus proved that he was no ordinary finger spinner but one who could be a match winner. With such a reputation having been earned, it was one of the major blunders by any Indian tour management when it was decided to leave out Raju from the team that played in the Sydney Test in 1991-92. Ravi Shastri was the lone spinner and he took four for 45 as Australia struggled to save the match on a wicket that traditionally helped spin. And by the end of the game, there was almost unanimous opinion that Raju would have won the Test for India had he been played.

Undettered by these disappointments, Raju kept improving and as I said by 1993 had resumed his match winning habits in tandem with Chauhan and Kumble. Not only was he instrumental in India making a clean sweep of the three match Test series, he also played a leading role in India winning matches against Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. However, by the late 90s there was a palpable decline in his strike rate. But his overall record of 92 wickets from 27 Tests still made him a bowler who figured somewhere near the top of the list of current spin bowlers and the selectors were guilty of dropping him rather hastily. Certainly he was a better bet than some of the bowlers who replaced him.

Whereas others might have lost their motivation after being constantly overlooked, Raju's resilient qualities have seen him, like wine, improve with age. In the 1997-98 Ranji Trophy season, he took 30 wickets. The next year he had 44 scalps, striking up a particularly good rapport with Kanwaljit Singh. And in the 1999-2000 he went even better capturing 52 wickets to play a major role in Hyderabad making the final of the national competition. At 31, he is at the peak of his powers and with there being no real claimant for the second spinner's slot, Raju bids fair to be recalled during next season. The slightly built spin bowler, who made his first class debut 15 years ago, has reasons to be optimistic as he celebrates his birthday.