Therein lies the rub

By and large, the bowling has almost always been the bigger problem in Indian cricket, and the scenario today, pertaining in particular to the squad touring England, is not very different. As the team prepares to take on the hosts and Sri Lanka in a tri-series, to be followed by a four-Test series against England, there are question marks over the bowling even as confidence reigns that the experienced and gifted batting line-up will come good ­ even with the problems at the very top of the order.

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English conditions, as a rule, favour seam bowlers, but it has been proved time and again that even a good spinner can be among the wickets. This is true in the case of Indian bowlers as well. Over the last 70 years, the list of Indians who have done well in England makes for interesting reading. Among those who have operated the new ball, Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh, Lala Amarnath, Raman Surendranath, Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Chetan Sharma, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad have enjoyed a fair share of success. Given the strong tradition of Indian spin, it is always on the cards that bowlers giving the ball a healthy tweak will be just as successful, as proved by the exploits of Vinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed, Subash Gupte, BS Chandrasekhar, Dilip Doshi and Maninder Singh.

So, on the face of it, at least some of the six principal bowlers in the current squad seem to have a reasonable chance of success. They are four seamers ­ Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Tinu Yohannan - and two spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. In fact, with spin being India's forte, it may even seem a gamble to tour England with just two such bowlers. But as I pointed out in a recent column, spin to win may no longer be the Indian mantra overseas.

The last three Test victories abroad in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and the West Indies were all principally shaped by the fast men. The truth of the matter is that the overseas record of Kumble and Harbhajan does not inspire confidence. Given this, the bulk of the work could well be done by the four seam bowlers. And while no one can deny that they are all game triers and will not be short on stamina, they are certainly inexperienced. All of them are making their first full tour of England, and Agarkar alone has some experience of bowling in international matches in England, having been a member of the 1999 World Cup team. For inspiration, though, they need look no further than Venkatesh Prasad, who made his Test debut in England in 1996 and took 15 wickets in three Tests.

Kumble, on the other hand, is making his third full tour of England, besides being a member of the 1999 World Cup side. He has also had a couple of seasons with Northamptonshire in the county championship, and the astonishing fact is that while he has performed commendably for the county ­ enough for him to be selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1996 ­ his deeds for the country have been a letdown.

In 1990 he was a rookie, making his debut in the second Test at Manchester. By 1996, however, he was very much the lynchpin of the attack. But he still had a nightmarish series, finishing with just five wickets in the three Tests at an average of 66.80. Despite his impressive overall record ­ 319 wickets from 70 Tests at an average of fractionally under 28 ­ Kumble has continued to remain an enigma overseas, and it can only be hoped that he makes the most of the opportunity the current tour gives him to prove that he can be an effective bowler abroad.

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Much the same fears abound as far as Harbhajan is concerned. The offspinner is a class act at home, but overseas he has been reduced to a bowler of near club standard. He and Kumble did tie up the Englishmen in knots in the home series six months ago, but it will be a wholly different - and much more difficult - proposition in England. Twice ­ in 1951-52, and again 30 years later ­ English batsmen have floundered in India, only to turn the tables on them a few months later in home conditions.

Given the inexperience of the seam attack and the ineffectiveness of the spinners, perhaps Sourav Ganguly will have to do a lot of bowling himself. He is the kind who may be able to make the ball talk in English conditions. Not many may know that in his memorable debut series six years ago, besides heading the batting figures, he also topped the bowling averages - six wickets in two matches at an average of 20.83. He was also fairly successful during the World Cup three years ago.

Given this background, as well as his skill and experience, it may not be a surprise if he fancies himself as almost a frontline bowler. We may well see him bowl fairly long spells, though how many wickets will fall to him is open to question.

All in all, it is not a bowling line-up to inspire confidence, especially after what the England batsmen have just accomplished against Sri Lanka, scoring 500-plus in three successive innings, the first time they have achieved this feat in 125 years of Test cricket. The onus will again fall on the batsmen to run up the kind of totals that would ensure at least a draw. For, at the moment, India winning the Test series is just as uphill a task as it was for England to win in this country six months ago. They didn't have the bowlers to win in India, and we don't seem to have the bowlers to win in England. After all, as is well-known, it is sharp bowling and not tall scoring that wins matches.