After Harbhajan's success, Kumble will heave a sigh of relief

Harbhajan Singh is certainly the man of the moment. He has made countless Indian cricket fans happy with his record breaking exploits with the ball in the just concluded Test series against Australia. But one suspects that the happiest - and certainly the most relieved - person will be Anil Kumble. The 30-year-old Indian spin spearhead has been carrying the expectations of millions of Indians on his tall frame for about a decade now. He will surely welcome a comrade in arms in the teasing and tormenting trade.

Indeed, no other bowler has dwarfed every other spinner of his time to the extent that Kumble has done. A quick look at India's spin bowling history will confirm this. Compatriots Vinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed and Subash Gupte took 162, 68 amd 149 wickets respectively. Salim Durrani and Bapu Nadkarni, who were among India's main spin bowlers in the sixties, finished with 75 and 88 wickets. The spin quartet took 853 wickets between them and the figures were not disproportionate: Bedi 266, Chandra 242, Prasanna 189 and Venkat 156. In the eighties, basking under the glory of Kapil Dev, the country's leading spin bowlers still had their moments. Dilip Doshi claimed 114 wickets, Shivlal Yadav 102, Ravi Shastri 151 and Maninder Singh almost one hundred.

In the 90s however the spin attack has been virtually Kumble. Just consider these figures. Kumble's overall Test figures are 276 wickets from 61 Tests at an average of 28.00. None of his many spin bowling colleagues over the past decade has even crossed 100. The nearest to this mark is Venkatapathi Raju. No mean performer in his own right, the left arm spinner from Hyderabad has been in the shadow of Kumble. Including the recent Test at Kolkata, he has taken 93 wickets in 28 games at a little over 30 apiece. He however played one Test before Kumble made his debut in which he took three wickets. So his figures during the `Kumble period' are 90 wickets from 27 matches.

Rajesh Chauhan, who made his debut against England in 1992-93, has taken 47 wickets in 21 Tests at an average of 39.51. Narendra Hirwani's overall figures are 66 wickets from 17 Tests at an average of 30. But in the period under review - since Kumble's debut against England in August 1990 - the Madhya Pradesh leg spinner has taken eight wickets in three Tests at an average of 23.50. Ravi Shastri's career was grinding to a halt as Kumble's was rising and the left arm spinner bowled in just seven Tests in 1991-92 and 1992-93, taking eight wickets at an average of 34.00.

Now let us consider the relative newcomers. First, some left arm spinners. The newest addition to the list of left arm spinners who have won the India cap, Rahul Sanghvi played in only the recent Mumbai Test taking two for 78. Nilesh Kulkarni had a dream debut by becoming the first Indian bowler to take a wicket with his first delivery in Test cricket. But his overall figures are much less impressive than that feat. Including the recent Chennai Test, he has two wickets for 332 runs from three Tests. Sunil Joshi has been in and out of the team but has still managed to play 15 Tests in which he has taken 41 wickets at 35.85 apiece. Maninder Singh is of course very much Kumble's senior having made his debut some eight years before the leg spinner. He has been instrumental in bowling India to victory in at least a couple of Test matches as his overall figures of 88 wickets from 35 games would indicate. But in the period under review he played in only one Test against Zimbabwe picking up seven wickets at 20.71 apiece. Murali Kartik has played only four Tests over the past two seasons, taking nine wickets at 34.33 apiece.

Now let us consider some off spinners. Aashish Kapoor, who made his debut against West Indies in 1994-95, has played only four Tests with modest figures of six wickets at 42.50 apiece. Sarandeep Singh has played in just one Test, picking up six wickets at 34.33 apiece. And the latest in the long line, leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule has two wickets from his only Test at an average of 51.

One assumes that Sachin Tendulkar must be included in the list. The batting maestro has broken many partnerships with his mix of off spinners, leg spinners, googlies, top spinners and what have you. For a specialist batsman his figures are not bad - 22 wickets at 38 apiece.

And finally we come to the man of the moment. Harbhajan Singh, before the recent series, had bowled in eight Test matches and took 21 wickets at an average of about 37. He seemed to be under the shadow of Kumble as much as the other bowlers. Now he has not only emerged out of the shadows, he also threatens to upstage Kumble. His 32 wickets from three Tests in the just concluded series has spiralled his tally to 53 from eleven games while the average has come hurtling down to 25.56.

With Kumble in the process of recovering from his shoulder injury, Harbhajan's form could not have been more timely. Also, if, as feared, Kumble may not be the same bowler after his return, given the background of shoulder injuries and other bowlers affected by it (Srinath, Warne), India could well have discovered their main strike bowler for the new millennium.