Erapalli Prasanna

It was a fascinating sight. "Focus on bowling a good length," "don't be afraid to get hit," chirped an enthusiastic 74-year-old, as kids, perhaps aiming to make spin bowling their profession someday, looked to give the ball a real rip at the Parsee Gymkhana on Saturday.

Unhappy with the overcautious approach of the Indian batsmen in their second-innings debacle in Galle, spin legend Erapalli Prasanna said the plan should have been to rotate the strike and score whenever possible.

One of India's finest cricketers and legendary left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi was part of India's celebrated spin quartet, which included Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and S Venkataraghavan. He played for India from 1966 to 1979 and was admired for his art of spin, especially his skill to beat batsmen with flight and loop with an almost poetic action. His mastery, control and the ability to fox batsmen almost at will also reflects in his 1560 first-class wickets in 370 matches.

Spin great Erapalli Prasanna feels India's well-rounded attack make them favourites to defend the Champions Trophy they won four years ago.

Skipper MS Dhoni, opener Virender Sehwag and the reliable duo of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are the players who have made it to ESPNcricinfo's India all-time XI.

R Ashwin is on a roll. With 17 wickets in two Tests, he has already overtaken Harbhajan Singh as the highest wicket-taker for India in a three-Test series.

Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday became the second fastest Indian to reach 150 Test wickets, behind teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, when he bowled Dhananjay de Silva during the second Test against Sri Lanka.

I was a fast bowler and an excellent fielder, I was an average batsman, says Rajinikanth.

Not too impressed with the current lot of spinners, the legendary Erapalli Prasanna said not a single tweaker of the present era attempts to take wickets.

Former India cricketers hailed the BCCI's decision to appoint retired greats Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly in its cricket advisory committee, terming it a "step in the right direction."

Former India leg-spinner L Sivaramakrishnan, who has seen Ashwin from close quarters over the years, went on to compare him to the legendary Anil Kumble.

Dilip Vengsarkar, who turned 64 on Monday, was India's batting mainstay during the mid 80s when he outscored the iconic Sunil Gavaskar as his upright stance and ability to play swing and spin with aplomb was a delight for Test aficionados.

India aims to rebound from their Adelaide Test defeat as they face Australia in the third Test at the Gabba, starting December 14. Rishabh Pant, hero of India's historic 2021 victory at the venue, is poised to become the highest Indian run-scorer at the Gabba. Mohammed Siraj also has a chance to top the Indian wicket-takers list at the ground.

Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar has joined the rebel ICL and will be the match referee for the League along with his former team-mate and off spin legend Erapalli Prasanna.

It was yesterday once more as spin legends Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar went down memory lane at the Eden Gardens.

A bat signed by players of all teams that took part in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket in Australia and belonging to the collection of former off spin great Erapalli Prasanna, fetched the highest price in an auction.

An integral part of the famous spin quartet - also comprising Bhagwat Chadrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Singh Bedi - that ruled the world in the late 1960s and '70s, off-spinner Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan might have had the least impressive stats but still he made his presence felt in a very large way.

Vice-captain Virat Kohli has a series average of 13.5, the joint second-lowest by an Indian top-order batsman in an overseas series of eight Test innings or more.

Ravichandran Ashwin, the fastest Indian to 150 Test wickets and also an instrumental engineering graduate from SSN College of Engineering, is not the only one to combine a sharp mathematical brain and a penchant for spin bowling -before him, Anil Kumble too was a qualified engineer, as were the legends EAS Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan.

"I have never been a numbers man. My aim is to bowl to the best of my potential. If in the process, the record happens, yes, I will be happy," said R Ashwin.