`Spin to win' best bet against Aussies - but where are the spinners?

It does not need a deeply knowledgeable cricket follower to say that `spin to win' is the policy needed if India are to have any chances of success against the Australians in this country. But if the ultimate proof is needed, just one single statistical evidence would suffice. Kapil Dev, that most outstanding of Indian medium pacers and a world record holder to boot, finished wicketless in the entire three Test series against Australia in 1986/87 after bowling 45 overs and conceding 124 runs.

From 1956, when the Australians made their first official tour of India, to the last encounter in 1998, it has been the bowlers who turn the ball rather than those who hurtle it down at some pace who have held the key to India's success. These include anyone who turns the ball, be it off spin, leg spin or left arm spin.

The trend was set in the first series when that first great Indian spin trio of Vinoo Mankad, Subash Gupte and Ghulam Ahmed took most of the wickets in the three Test series. In fact, after the Australians had been traumatised by Jim Laker in England earlier that year, the talk went around that the visitors were weak against off spin and the selectors picked a fourth spinner in Jasu Patel, who played two Tests with limited success. But it was the leading off spinner of the day Ghulam Ahmed who was the most successful, particularly with a match haul of ten for 130 in the final Test at Calcutta.

Whether it was a fact that the Australians were susceptible to off breaks or not, it was an off spinner who was the most destructive of the lot during the 1959-60 series. Ghulam Ahmed had retired by then but the Australians found Jasu Patel an ogre. Playing in three of the five Tests, Patel took 19 wickets including a record haul of 14 for 124 to shape the miracle at Kanpur. Bapu Nadkarni, a left arm spinner of pinpoint accuracy, was also fairly successful. In the third Test at Bombay, he had innings figures of six for 105 - five of them bowled.

Five years later, Nadkarni was even more successful scalping 17 in the first two Tests before finishing wicketless in the limited opportunities he got in the third and final Test. Another left arm spinner Salim Durrani and leg spinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar also played notable roles in India finishing on level terms in the series.

By 1969-70, the concentration on spin had become almost total. And Erapalli Prassana and Bishen Bedi did not disappoint. In five Tests, the two shared 47 wickets with Prasanna taking 26 and Bedi 21. Even S Venkatraghavan who was underbowled took 12 wickets and the talk that Australians were vulnerable to off spin became more vociferous. The bowling, heroic as it was, could not cover up for shoddy batting and the series was lost by three matches to one.

About the only exception to the well established theory that spin held the key to an Indian victory over Australia at home was Kapil Dev's performance in the 1979-80 series. The Indian pace spearhead, then in only his second season of international cricket, took 28 wickets in the six Tests to head the averages of 22.32. But here again he had to share the honours with spin in the name of two `new boys' Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav. The left arm spinner, in six Tests, captured 27 wickets at 23.33 apiece and the off spinner's share of the spoils in five Tests was 24 wickets at 24.04.

Whatever little damage to the Australian batting in the high scoring 1986-87 series was caused by Shivlal Yadav, Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri. Ten years later, in the one-off Test at New Delhi, 14 out of 19 wickets to fall to bowlers were taken by Anil Kumble, Venkatapathi Raju and Aashish Kapoor as they shaped a seven wicket victory. And in the last series, three years ago, Kumble was the kingpin of the spin attack taking 23 wickets in the three Tests at an average of 18.26 as India won the series by two matches to one.

So there you are. `Spin to win' is the theory to follow when it comes to whipping the Aussies at home. The problem this time is where are the spinners to put the theory into practice?