Kumble joins BCCI's spin wing

The spin wing of the Indian board's National Cricket Academy has been strengthened by the induction of Anil Kumble into a newly formed panel. Sunil Gavaskar, chairman of the NCA, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, VV Kumar, Ravi Shastri and Brijesh Patel, director of the NCA, are the other members of this panel.

The panel will actively work towards the revival of spin bowling in India and will periodically attend camps for various age groups, starting with under-15, and will also be present at inter-zonal tournaments to spot talent. Initially a pool of 50 spinners - 10 from each zone - will be selected and put under the watchful eyes of this committee. Later, the 20 most promising spinners from this lot will undergo more intensive training in a four-week camp at the NCA in September.

"It (the spin wing) is designed to enable budding youngsters to develop into international-class bowlers. Spin is an art which takes a long time to master," said Gavaskar. "They will learn by interacting with the legends at the camp, and then further hone their skills on their own with inputs from seniors." He also added that the onus of tackling bowlers with doubtful actions would fall on the spin wing. "The basic idea is to make sure that anybody with doubtful action is given remedial advice when they are young."

Shastri expressed his concern at the "dearth of quality spinners" in domestic cricket and hoped that the spin wing could redress this. "That two among the top three wicket-takers in Test cricket are spinners prove that they play a dominant role in the modern game."