Ajit Wadekar lampoons Indian pitches

Spinners have had a wonderful time throughout the series, but at what cost?

The pitch conundrum surrounding the realms of international cricket has been there for some time now, and after the recent two-and-a-half day affairs at Mohali and Nagpur, the debate has escalated to an entirely new level. Cutting into this debate, former India captain Ajit Wadekar, who led India to its first series win in England and the West Indies in 1971, has expressed his reservations against the rank turners being prepared to greet the South Africans with spin in the ongoing Paytm Freedom Series.

Wadekar was captain when India defeated England 2-1 at home, in a series that had stark similarities, in terms of approach to the bowling attack, to the current one against the Proteas. The Indian spinners, namely S. Venkatraghavan, Erapalli Prasanna, B.S. Bedi, B. Chandrasekhar, and Salim Durani sent down 825 overs in that five-match series and took 72 wickets as compared to the seamer Syed Abid Ali who bowled 62 overs.

To say that Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, and Stuart Binny have been in the playing eleven as much for their batting as for their bowling won’t be an understatement. The trio of Ravi Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja have 47 wickets against their names against Varun Aaron’s two, while Ishant has been stuck on the tally of 200 wickets since the head-banging show back in Colombo earlier this year.

“In Test match cricket, it’s not done basically, the ball starting to turn from day one. India’s strength then was spin and we used to wait for three days for natural wear and tear to create opportunities for our spinners,” said Wadekar when asked about the much touted doctored pitches being used for the series.

He added further, “That’s where the skill lies, bowling at a particular pace. The real spinners should do well when they go to England, South Africa and Australia. To an extent he [Kohli] is right to say that conditions in India will be slow and assist turn. Even a bowler like Wesley Hall could not get many wickets. Having said that, people come to watch a five-day game and they pay for that.’’

The pitch debate rages on

Having said that, it can be safely concluded that Mr. Wadekar strongly favours a five-day classical subcontinental test match, that commences with just a tinge of grass on the pitch for the bowlers to swing the ball in the first session, followed by two batting friendly days, for batsmen to make big scores.

It is only then that the pitch starts crumbling and deteriorating with the bowler’s footmarks, and with the odd ball keeping low on the fourth and fifth days, spinners come into the picture, who, with their abilities to give the ball more air, supple wrists, and maximum revolutions extract the turn out of the pitch.

The spinners have to be patient for the first three days and wait for the wear and tear, believes Wadekar, which also helps them develop skills to bowl in overseas conditions where there is not much turn on offer. Moreover, from the spectator’s point of view, a five-day test match is what they pay for, and in the words of the former India captain, they must not be denied of this privilege.

The debate on teams using home conditions- read tailor made pitches- to their advantage, escalated quickly after a visiting team- the No.1 test side in the world, with a 9-year undefeated run away from home- was welcomed into the test series with a pitch that started turning from day one.

While the Indian captain Virat Kohli argues that even in England matches finished inside three days, one substantive point that he and Mr. Wadekar both agree on is the inability of the batsmen to adapt to foreign conditions. As much as it is necessary to keep a check on doctored pitches to maintain the tradition of Test cricket, what the debaters on both sides would readily agree on is the need for the batsmen to play well in alien conditions.