‘Bowling on greener track a test of character for spinners’

Dhanbad: With 20 years of first-class experience playing for five Ranji Trophy sides, Sairaj Bahutule has seen all kinds of pitches India has. Add to it the stint in England and the handful international matches he played, you are talking about somebody who has perhaps tasted more variety in pitches than the food all those venues offered. Since the former leg-spinner has more than 600 first-class wickets in the bag, his opinion becomes important about the recent discussion that India’s domestic venues are becoming hostile to spinners by preparing pacer-friendly wickets.
“As a good spinner, you should be in a position to bowl on any wicket,” Bahutule told TOI unequivocally.
India’s batting debacles in England and Australia in late 2011 had prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to instruct curators for domestic matches to make greener wickets. Since that started, there have been more outright results in Ranji Trophy and the list of wicket-takers has started showing more pacers than spinners in the first few positions but in the background of Indian bowlers’ poor show Down Under on the ongoing tour, former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar have been discussing if the move has backfired by weakening spinners more than finding good pacers.
Harbhajan Singh, one of India’s all-time best, recently complained Indian spin would become a lost art if BCCI did not change this policy. His once-upon-a-time teammate Bahutule, though, had a different take on this. “Yes, the wickets have improved and I think skill will be enhanced only when the spinners also start bowling on wickets which are not helping,” he said.
“Sometimes it does happen that if the wickets are helping, you don’t really know the quality of a spinner. Since the wicket is doing so much, any guy who bowls normally, picks up loads of wickets. So I think the test of character is when you bowl on wickets which are flatter, or greener.”
Bahutule supported Harbhajan in saying there should be some purchase for the spinners: “You can’t have wickets which are flat or really good all the time.”
However, Bahutule insisted it ultimately comes down to how skilful a spinner is. “You have to keep improving as a spinner. You should be able to bowl well on flatter, greener tracks, too. And above all it is about your mental approach to bowling. Even on a flat track you should be able to bowl your heart out, pitch it in the right areas, bowl good line and length and create opportunities.”
The former India bowler also stood by young leggie Karn Sharma, whose Test debut at Adelaide Oval did not impress many.
“I think when you are travelling abroad, an important thing is the ball that is used,” Bahutule pointed out. “Kookaburra is used in Australia, SG ball here (India). This makes a huge difference because all our career we’ve been using the SG ball. That is the major part — getting used to a Kookaburra. It has a different seam, different way of behaving. Karn has to be persisted with. The more he bowls with the Kookaburra ball, the better he will get.”
He also stressed on the fact that spinners take time to mature. “As a leg-spinner you mature over the years. I’m sure Karn will learn from this. Even Shane Warne, or me, we learnt so much from that first game. You learn what you can be, what are your shortcomings and your positives. Look at Lyon, too. He has improved over the years. When he started off he wasn’t so good. So I’m backing Karn.”