Harbhajan's basics are not strong: Prasanna
FILE PHOTO CONCERNED: Ace off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna is critical of contemporary captains' handling of spinners
Attacking by instinct, Prasanna used the width and the depth of the crease, varied his trajectory and controlled the extent of turn. And he played on the ego of the batsman.
Prasanna, now 71, prised out 189 batsmen in 49 Tests at 30.38 but could have scalped a lot more had not the great Indian spinners of the 60s and 70s cut into each other's tally.
The match-winner from the past is concerned at Indian spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh's continuing struggle for form and rhythm.
Prasanna said, “He is delivering from a very chest-on position. Consequently, his length has suffered. He has got his length right only 25 to 30 pert cent of times. If your length is awry, your line is affected as well. The fact that his basics are not strong, he does not pivot or get his body behind his action, is not helping matters either. There is very little follow through.”
Queried about Harbhajan picking up more than 400 Test wickets, Prasanna responded, “Numbers need not reflect the authenticity of performance. For instance, a batsman might have got 5000 Test runs. But 40 per cent of those runs could have come through streaky strokes.”
Putting his finger on the heart of Harbhajan's problems, Prasanna said, “I think he is conscious of his action coming under a cloud when he bowls the doosra; this has affected him psychologically. He has not employed this delivery much in recent times and has become predictable.”
Prasanna was also shocked at the number of no-balls sent down by Amit Mishra. “How can a spinner do this in a Test? What is the support staff doing?,” he fumed.
The off-spin wizard was critical of contemporary captains' handling of spinners. “Tiger Pataudi, with all his intelligence, was different. There is no aggressive skipper like him around now”
When asked about emerging off-spinner R. Ashwin, Prasanna replied, “I do not want to judge him on the basis of one-day and Twenty20 cricket. I want to see him on a good wicket in the longer version of the game.”
Siva's views
Former India leg-spinner L. Sivaramakrishnan, who heads BCCI's specialist academy for spinners, said, “The SG ball reverse swings and the captains prefer the pacemen to bowl with the older ball as well in domestic games. The spinners are, thus, not retained for long spells and only perform a defensive role even when the ball gets older.
“They should bowl to attacking fields and singles should not be conceded easily. For instance, I cannot understand why a spinner should bowl with a deep point. You should not set a field for bad bowling,” he said.
Sivaramakrishnan added, “We need more attacking captains in domestic cricket. A spinner must be encouraged to flight and then we will also get to see the dip and drift. Presently, a spinner tends to be quicker through the air the moment he is attacked. It is here that a captain needs to step in.”
On Harbhajan's travails, Sivaramakrishnan said, “He is missing the pressure created from the other end by Anil Kumble. Now, he has to both build the stress and pick the wickets and is finding it very difficult.
“He needs to make the switch mentally to the role of the spin spearhead. This has not happened so far.” Indeed, the land of spin is grappling with a spin crisis.
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