India need new spin

Kumble will have to lead the line yet again

Talk of political expediency aside, the decision to schedule the five one-day internationals ahead of the Tests was a gift from the Gods for an Indian cricket team whose recent injury worries border on the epidemic.

Whisper it softly - the TV networks and shallow Gen-X fans certainly won't agree - but one-day internationals don't mean much anyway, not when they're played outside the World Cup umbrella. What we really want to see is an Indian Test team - which, by Steve Waugh's reckoning, stands on the threshold of greatness - taking on a Pakistan side that saw off South Africa in a tense series a few months ago.

Had the Tests been played in early March, as per the tentative schedule initially drawn up by the Pakistan Cricket Board, India would almost certainly have had to go in without Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, and - most importantly - Anil Kumble. To say that they would have been mildly disadvantaged would be like saying that Javed Miandad liked a chat or two out in the middle.

For all his aggression, purpose and fiery mien, Irfan Pathan isn't ready to lead a Test-match attack. The same goes for Lakshmipathy Balaji, whose accuracy will frequently see him used as a Craig Matthews-like (remember the South African who could do a McGrath before McGrath came along?) tourniquet on the placid pitches of the subcontinent.

Zaheer has to be an essential component of any battle plan drawn up by the team management, if only because he has taken five-wicket hauls in three of his last six Tests. His presence becomes all the more vital because Nehra continues to be fragile and inconsistent, and some would say behind Pathan and Balaji in the pecking order.

Agarkar was India's most consistent performer with the ball in Australia, but neither he nor Zaheer needs the hurly-burly of five one-day games before the main event. That leaves the door ajar for fringe players like Amit Bhandari. His debut against Pakistan, at the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 2000, was a nightmarish experience, but his displays in Australia suggested that the school of hard knocks - and domestic cricket is nothing if not that for pace bowlers - has taught him a lesson or two.

The wild card, in the one-day arena at least, could be Munaf Patel. Though he hasn't quite rocketed into Shoaib-Lee pace territory, word is that he's quick and willing. And there's nothing like a match or two against Pakistan to let you know if the young man has the heart for the big challenge.

India's chances of a first Test win on Pakistani soil, though, will depend heavily on the slow-bowling component. Of all the subcontinent teams, the Pakistanis - the modern-day vintage as opposed to former greats like Zaheer Abbas and Miandad, who savaged India's Fab Four - are the least adept against spin. Recently, they struggled against Bangladesh's Mohammad Rafique - who's not exactly in the Bedi-Underwood-Lock class. And Shane Warne, who has nightmares about being savaged by the Indians, has his sweetest dreams about Pakistani bunnies, and so would you if you had scalped 76 in just 12 Tests.

Kumble's fitness is therefore of paramount importance. He should be handled as carefully as a priceless Faberge egg, with every effort made to ensure that the soreness in the rotator cuff is just a painful memory by March 28. Murali Kartik is the obvious choice as second spinner, disappointing as he was in Australia. The alternative is Sunil Joshi, who didn't exactly uproot trees when given his chances.

The offspin angle, in Harbhajan Singh's absence, will tax the minds of the selectors. Sourav Ganguly has expressed a preference for Kulamani Parida - Kartik's Railways' sidekick - but his first-class record of 227 wickets at 28.19 will hardly inspire indigestion in Inzamam-ul-Haq. The same goes for Mumbai's Ramesh Powar, who had some success against top-quality opposition in the Irani Trophy despite a limited repertoire.

It says much about the paucity of spin talent in the domestic game that KN Ananthapadmanabhan - perhaps the best of the moderns never to play for India - and Narendra Hirwani continue to outshine many of their younger rivals. The likes of Amol Kokje and Aparajit Singh, whose potential has excited seasoned observers, can't break the surface quickly enough.

Dreams of a series victory will be fructified only if the batsmen bat as they did in Australia, and see off the considerable threat posed by Shoaib, Mohammad Sami and Saqlain Mushtaq, who appears certain to be picked. After that, it's down to the bowlers, and at this moment in time, it's hard to see 20 wickets falling like tenpins unless Kumble can put that much-tormented shoulder - did Atlas have it so hard? - to the wheel. A phone call or two to Warne in Colombo wouldn't hurt either.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo in India. Sambit Bal will be back next week.