rkt.india Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Anil Kumble: 'If your 20 wickets are going to come with two spinners and two fast bowlers, so be it. If it comes with three spinners and one fast bowler so be it' © Getty Images Anil Kumble, the former India captain, has said that while the team has quality bowlers, their progress has to be monitored season by season, and there has to be a flexible approach to selecting XIs when on tour. The performance of the Indian bowlers on the recent tour to Australia has come in for severe criticism, and Kumble said "some portion of the criticism is justified", but added that the ability of bowlers to adjust to the longest format has to be taken into account when selecting squads. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Kumble, India's highest wicket-taker in Test and ODI cricket, said: "We have the quality of bowlers, it's just trying to see who can adjust to the Test format and then choosing your best four bowlers who you think can pick up 20 wickets, that's also been an issue." The question that was always raised on the eve of a Test match was simple, he said - how are you going to get 20 wickets? But now, at times, the answer is made complicated, he said: "We have gone into this theory of three seamers and one spinner the moment we sit on an aircraft which travels more than seven hours - that's the mindset… If your 20 wickets are going to come with two spinners and two fast bowlers, so be it. If it comes with three spinners and one fast bowler so be it." He cited the example of the Adelaide Test, where on a track known to favour the batsmen and assist spinners from halfway through the Test, India went in with a single spinner - debutant, Karn Sharma. Kumble asked, "So who got wickets for Australia then? If you look at the top two bowlers, it was one spinner and one fast bowler." Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon was the series' top wicket-taker with 23 wickets. He said that in the last series Australia played before the India tour, "although the conditions were different… two unknown spinners won the series for Pakistan. Without Michael Clarke their batting line up was inexperienced." The surfeit of short-form cricket, both ODIs and Twenty20s, may have led to the Indian bowlers "not being that disciplined in their approach to bowling when it comes to Test cricket", Kumble said. In ODIs and T20s, "you get away with that. You are constantly thinking of pre-empting a batsman because you think he will play this shot - that's what you do in one-day cricket. You are always guessing and trying to out-guess the batsman. In Test cricket you need to bowl line and length - it is that simple - and keep repeating the same thing." He said, "That will only come with playing more of this format, and that will only come with what kind of an approach [you have] prior to heading off [on tour]. It's the simple thing that needs to be considered." "Test cricket is all about building pressure and how you can sustain it, the longer you can sustain the pressure, the more successful you can be," he said. Modern batsmen, he pointed out, were also playing a large quantity of limited-overs cricket. "Generally today's batsmen tend to look for runs, [far] more than what it used to be maybe five, ten years ago. That's the kind of cricket that the batsmen are used to playing - ODIs, T20…" Given the generally batting friendly pitches around the world, Kumble said, "The trend is that disciplined bowlers tend to get you wickets… The more disciplined you are with the line and length you will keep the runs down and that is the best way to get wickets because generally speaking, it's [the scoring rate] been more than four runs an over." Indian bowlers, he said, needed to be their own leaders and "not look over their shoulder". Most of India's bowlers have played a sizeable amount of cricket, "so they need to start looking at themselves as the leader of the pack." Getting the bowlers to be "self-sufficient" was important, he said. "You can't be looking over your shoulder and ask which ball should I bowl, what field should I set? At the end of the day you know what balls to bowl and what fields to set, you have to be your own captain, you can't be saying 'Okay, set the field and tell me where to bowl and I will bowl'. That's not how we play cricket. You have to be your own leader." He said the BCCI and team management need to "monitor its 20 best bowlers. It is just a matter of managing the top 20 bowlers and trying to follow them during the course of their season, whether they are playing Ranji Trophy or IPL or Test cricket." It is a suggestion that Kumble had made to the BCCI in the past, but there is no indication that the suggestion has been followed through. "At home they seem fine, they are pretty used to the conditions, but generally overseas you need to be stronger." The Indian bowling attack for Test cricket overseas, Kumble said, can be built by studying which of the bowlers have the capacity to be stronger when playing long-form cricket overseas. "Not physically stronger, but bowling-wise stronger. People tend to mis-interpret, strength by saying I need to spend time in the gym. That's not strength. You need to sustain yourself for longer when on tour. How long can you bowl? How effective you are in your last spell, whether you are a spinner or a fast bowler. That's what matters in the end." http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/820079.html Who are those spinners will get you 20 wickets overseas? :nervous:
bharat297 Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Interesting idea. I think the lack of quality bowlers means getting the right combination is the second problem.
BeautifulGame Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 We did this few times under Ganguly /Dravid . As for who the same spinners who win matches at home
rkt.india Posted January 13, 2015 Author Posted January 13, 2015 Jadeja' date='Ashwin[/quote'] Both these guys I think played together in England and were outbowled by Moeen Ali.
rkt.india Posted January 13, 2015 Author Posted January 13, 2015 We need to developed pacers to win overseas. These rubbish solutions wont win us there.
bharat297 Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 We need to developed pacers to win overseas. These rubbish solutions wont win us there. I don't think it's a bad idea IF you have world class spinners, which we don't.
rkt.india Posted January 13, 2015 Author Posted January 13, 2015 I don't think it's a bad idea IF you have world class spinners' date=' which we don't.[/quote'] Agree, but cricket is highly condition dependent sport. Even world class Murli has not done much in Australia. Our world class Harbhajan averages 70 in Aus. No matter how great a bowler is, h e will need support from the conditions. you are not going to win too m any matches playing spinners in Aus because they will be taking wickets but will concede 150 run too.
diga Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 We need to developed pacers to win overseas. These rubbish solutions wont win us there. why do you see that 1 statement about picking 2 spinners & 2 pacers in isolation? Hasnt he said in the same article that "pick bowlers who the team mgmt think can pick up 20 wickets, "
rkt.india Posted January 13, 2015 Author Posted January 13, 2015 why do you see that 1 statement about picking 2 spinners & 2 pacers in isolation? Hasnt he said in the same article that "pick bowlers who the team mgmt think can pick up 20 wickets' date=' "[/quote'] and they did pick who they though will get 20 wickets. They didnt get that is a different matter.
putrevus Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Ridiculous and short sighted solution from Kumble, the onus should be on how to develop fast bowlers rather than going back to 1960s or 1970s when opener was bowling with new ball to take shine off. Second largest population and richest cricket board ,onus should be on investing on scouting and finding talent rather than looking for shortcuts. Run bowling camps everywhere not just in cities but villages too.Reward scouts and coaches who find talent and train talent,this board has so much money,spend on doing right things rather than looking for shortcuts. Bcci needs to understand unless team performs well its coffers will not be full always,Hockey was once more popular than cricket but now not even dogs care for it.Cricket is not immune to that treatment.
HippoSucks Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 I don't think experimenting different combinations is the way to go, especially considering we don't have 2 great spinners. The best thing for now is just developing our pacers and see how it goes. If we ever end up with another good spinner, then it may be worth trying this.
Vilander Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Regressive statement, disappointing. The only tests we won were because pacers bowled well in those games overseas..
kosingh Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Develop anyone. Freakin anyone. Spinners or pacers. Make a list of top 25 bowlers in world cricket, and you might have zero Indians.
express bowling Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I am surprised that the top bowlers in our country are not monitored by the board. Kumble had to suggest this ? Shouldn't it be a given ? Even after that ...it iis not being followed
adi B Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 poor idea,only good pacers can win u matches in aus,saf,eng.playingwith 2 spinners might be okay once in a while like for sydney,adelaide type pitches but not for majority of matches. world class spinners like murali,ajmal couldnt do much in these places because of the nature of the pitches.better if we concentrate on developing good fast bowlers
bharat297 Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Agree' date=' but cricket is highly condition dependent sport. Even world class Murli has not done much in Australia. Our world class Harbhajan averages 70 in Aus. No matter how great a bowler is, h e will need support from the conditions. you are not going to win too m any matches playing spinners in Aus because they will be taking wickets but will concede 150 run too.[/quote'] Thats a fair point I think Murali and Bhajji's stats are skewed by the fact that they predominantly played against one of the greatest teams in the history of cricket. But yes conditions are important. However, Warne, McGill and Lyon all show that spinners can have success in Australia. Even Kumble towards the back end of his career started to have success in Australia. I think they mainly come in to the game in Days 4-5 though in Australia, whereas in India they can come in from Day 1 really. You just have to ensure you are in the game until then
rkt.india Posted January 15, 2015 Author Posted January 15, 2015 Thats a fair point I think Murali and Bhajji's stats are skewed by the fact that they predominantly played against one of the greatest teams in the history of cricket. But yes conditions are important. However, Warne, McGill and Lyon all show that spinners can have success in Australia. Even Kumble towards the back end of his career started to have success in Australia. I think they mainly come in to the game in Days 4-5 though in Australia, whereas in India they can come in from Day 1 really. You just have to ensure you are in the game until then Also, Warne, Macgil, Lyon know how to bowl there and they had a good pace attack to backup.
bharat297 Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 Also' date=' Warne, Macgil, Lyon know how to bowl there and they had a good pace attack to backup.[/quote'] Not disputing that but it shows that the conditions are not completely unfriendly for spinners.
rkt.india Posted January 15, 2015 Author Posted January 15, 2015 Not disputing that but it shows that the conditions are not completely unfriendly for spinners. Yes, they are not, but spinners will come into play if your fast bowlers do the job well. If they dont, no spinner alone is going to win you matches there. This suggestion of playing 3 spinners was ridiculous. You dont have even one good spinner doing well there, but talking about 3. They were not benching out Warne's or Macgil's for 3 seamers.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now