'Where are the good left-arm spinners?'

[King]

Spin legend E A S Prasanna laments the lack of experienced India bowlers to dominate the opposition. More... 'Where are the good left-arm spinners?' The Rediff Cricket Interview | E A S Prasanna E A S Prasanna July 10, 2007 Unarguably the greatest off-spinner from the subcontinent, Erapalli Prasanna was a scourge of the best of batsmen of his era. Ian Chappell, a master batsman against spinners, still goes gaga over the Indian and his high quality, versatile off-spin bowling. Of his 189 Test wickets, many were those of the most formidable batsmen from Australia, England [Images] and the West Indies [Images] . Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar had formed a deadly triumvirate and they were an excellent complement to one another. They would share most of the wickets among themselves. But for the fact Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan were contemporaries, he would have played many more Tests than just 49 he figured in. But they were enough for him to stamp his class. Had he been playing today, he would easily have taken 500-odd wickets, considering the level of teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies . Genius is the term that immediately comes to mind when describing Prasanna. A courageous off-spinner, unafraid of flighting the ball even when bowling against a meagre total, Prasanna always kept the batsmen guessing with his variations and the loop. An artist with the ball, he was capable of making the red cherry do his bidding. It was a connoisseur's delight to watch him unfold his art and bamboozle the batsmen. It is not surprising that Prasanna is unhappy with the state of spin bowling as well as the crop of spinners in India. Indian cricket's living legend spoke toHaresh Pandyaabout the team's chances on the tour of England and spinners in general. How are Team India's chances of winning the Test series in England? We've good chances to win against England provided we bat well. Our batsmen, from top to lower order, will have to bat well. We've an experienced batting line-up. Most of our batsmen are in good form, too. But Test cricket is a different ball game altogether. So, every batsman will have to contribute substantially. How do you rate the England team? It appears good. The hosts have some very good bowlers who will test the Indian batsmen in the varied English conditions. England is always strong when playing at home. I think this is going to be a very close Test series. How do you view the Indian bowlers? Except Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan [Images], we don't have experienced bowlers. And experience counts a lot when you are playing in England. We don't have the experienced bowlers to dominate the opposition. From India's point of view, who do you think could be our trump card? Kumble. The selectors have dropped Harbhajan Singh [Images] and instead picked a relatively inexperienced off-spinner in Ramesh Powar. Do you agree with Powar's selection for the Test series? They must have solid reasons for dropping Harbhajan. And we shouldn't underestimate Powar and his ability. He has been doing pretty well of late and I think he deserves what he has got. Being an off-spinner yourself, how impressed are you with Powar? He looks good and talented. He hasn't done badly so far. He has been getting opportunities. It means the selectors, too, have confidence in his ability. It should be interesting to see how he bowls in the Tests in the company of Kumble. Why doesn't Team India play a left-arm spinner any more? Where are the good left-arm spinners? I think this is one of the reasons why the selectors aren't picking any left-arm spinner. With Kumble taking so many wickets, we probably don't require any left-arm spinner. But even when we had good left-arm spinners, the scenario was more or less the same� Well, you should be bold enough to play a left-arm spinner. You've to have full faith in his potential. A left-arm spinner lacking in quality usually proves to be a luxury for his team. Are you happy with the young spinners in the country? No. There aren't too many promising spinners around. Most of them lack the basics and aren't prepared to work hard and improve themselves. How do you foresee the future of spinners in India? It's very bleak, I'm afraid. How do you find Piyush Chawla? He seems to have the potential. He has got all the breaks at a very young age and very early in his life. Do you think he has it in him to be somewhere near Kumble in terms of ability? It's too early to say whether he'll be anywhere near Kumble. Let him play more and prove himself. He is too young. He has a lot to prove and improve. Who is the best off-spinner in the world today? There is no one around. No one? Not even Muttiah Muralitharan? No.

[King]

Who is the best off-spinner in the world today? There is no one around. No one? Not even Muttiah Muralitharan? No.

Wow.... that's some statement :tounge_smile:

[Donny]

Certainly is! I'd love to see him elaborate on that one.

[Cricketics]

may be he wantz to become a bowling coach for spiners, hence making some initial statements..

[Ram]

"Who is the best off-spinner in the world today? There is no one around. No one? Not even Muttiah Muralitharan? No."... :hysterical::hysterical:

[Ram]

How can there be "no best off-spinner" in the world ? There is gotto be someone, even if he is the best among the worst !!

[kumble_rocks]

This old fool has completely lost it in my opinion. I have lost all respect for him now. Firstly , he was kind enough to choose himself over the great kumble in the all time India X1 which he chaired recently . And now , he claims that Murali is not the best off- spinner in the world. What a joker.

[Donny]

Sometimes, we tend to forget good/great players don't necessarily make good captains, coaches, commentators or journalists. DK Lillee: Great player. Excellent bowling coach. Poor journo/critic. GS Chappell: Great player. Successful captain. Dud commentator. Dud coach. SR Tendulkar: Great player. Unsuccessful captain. IT Botham: Great player. Dud captain. Fairly ordinary commentator but has his moments. BC Lara: Great player. Uninspiring and unsuccessful captain. MA Taylor: Very good Test opener. Astute and successful captain. A disaster as a commentator. TM Alderman: Great bowler. One of the most boring commentators imaginable. Even makes Bob Willis sound interesting. BA Richards: Great batsman. Painful to listen to as a commentator.

[kumble_rocks]

Sometimes' date=' we tend to forget good/great players don't [i']necessarily make good captains, coaches, commentators or journalists. DK Lillee: Great player. Excellent bowling coach. Poor journo/critic. GS Chappell: Great player. Successful captain. Dud commentator. Dud coach. SR Tendulkar: Great player. Unsuccessful captain. IT Botham: Great player. Dud captain. Fairly ordinary commentator but has his moments. BC Lara: Great player. Uninspiring and unsuccessful captain. MA Taylor: Very good Test opener. Astute and successful captain. A disaster as a commentator. TM Alderman: Great bowler. One of the most boring commentators imaginable. Even makes Bob Willis sound interesting. BA Richards: Great batsman. Painful to listen to as a commentator.

You forget the most boring commentator ever who happens to be a sure shot cure for insomniacs - Bob Willis - Great/Good bowler, average captain , Awful commentator.

[CC1981]

This old fool has completely lost it in my opinion. I have lost all respect for him now. Firstly ' date=' he was kind enough to choose himself over the great kumble in all time India X1 which he chaired recently . And now , claims that Murali is not the best off- spinner in the world. What a joker.[/quote'] Was Prasanna the only selector for this alltime XI ? if not, then why blame him for his name being there ahead of Kumble ?

[Donny]

You forget the most boring commentator ever who happens to be a sure shot cure for insomniacs - Bob Willis - Great/Good bowler, average captain , Awful commentator.

Read my post again mate. :wink_smile: Also, that wasn't meant to be the definitive, complete list of such players - just the ones who quickly came to mind.

[CC1981]

You forget the most boring commentator ever who happens to be a sure shot cure for insomniacs - Bob Willis - Great/Good bowler, average captain , Awful commentator.

Nothing's worse than listening to Doordarshan commentators in hindi..i wish Donny could understand hindi- for he'd then get what truely plumbing the depths of commentary is. I've heard Taylor and barry Richards...they are infinitely better than DD hindi commentators..and yes, Taylor & Richards both suck really bad. In DD hindi, all they do is read out the play. And that too, in a kind of monotonous but at an annoyingly pacy tone. Its like seeing a shot and having it spelt out for you ( and tendulkar hits through the covers...four!..and Azhar hits him through square leg...its four..thats azhar's 50) in the next few seconds.

[kumble_rocks]

Was Prasanna the only selector for this alltime XI ? if not' date=' then why blame him for his name being there ahead of Kumble ?[/quote'] He chaired the selection and choose himself over Kumble. No way dude was this guy better than kumble. And mind you , I have watched him bowl along with other members of the spin quartet from 1975. Even Stats favor Kumble:tounge_smile:

[kumble_rocks]

Read my post again mate. :wink_smile: Also, that wasn't meant to be the definitive, complete list of such players - just the ones who quickly came to mind.

My Bad!:regular_smile:

[Ram]

Sometimes' date=' we tend to forget good/great players don't [i']necessarily make good captains, coaches, commentators or journalists.

Fair point. But the main reason for such shock is , for someone who has represented his country in so many matches , you expect Prasanna to have decent amount of cricketing acumen. How the hell did these players devise match strategies ? and special batsman to get opposition players out ?

[kumble_rocks]

Nothing's worse than listening to Doordarshan commentators in hindi..i wish Donny could understand hindi- for he'd then get what truely plumbing the depths of commentary is. I've heard Taylor and barry Richards...they are infinitely better than DD hindi commentators..and yes, Taylor & Richards both suck really bad. In DD hindi, all they do is read out the play. And that too, in a kind of monotonous but at an annoyingly pacy tone. Its like seeing a shot and having it spelt out for you ( and tendulkar hits through the covers...four!..and Azhar hits him through square leg...its four..thats azhar's 50) in the next few seconds.

Ravi Chaturvedi used to be a good Hindi commentator . I forgot one more dudes name.That's about it.

[Cricketics]

herez what i remember from those days when Hindi commentry used to come on dd sports channel Hindi commentry from yashpal sharma "gaind balle ke bahri kinare se lagi aur siidha bhartiye up kaptan ke haatoh mein aa basi."

[CC1981]

He chaired the selection and choose himself over Kumble. No way dude was this guy better than kumble. And mind you ' date=' I have watched him bowl along with other members of the spin quartet from 1975. Even Stats favor Kumble:tounge_smile:[/quote'] Well my point is, if he isnt the sole selector, why blame him ?!? You dont know whether it was held by vote or by other recommendations or if Pras picked himself..it'd be uncharacterstic of him,since Pras is a very modest man.

[Ram]

Why go as far as Hindi commentators ? Most Indian english commentators are pathetic. I dont need to spell out the few good ones to prove this. If people like Arun Lal , Atul Wassan , Maninder Singh , Mohinder Amarnath can get infront of the microphone , then the standards must be appalling.

[CC1981]

How the hell did these players devise match strategies ? and special batsman to get opposition players out ?

Good at one thing doesnt mean being good at another...even in terms of thinking. I am up for almost any nut-busting problem in electromagnetics or microelectronics...but i still **** myself if i have to think about sigma bonds or Pi bonds in chemistry...