India’s spinners maybe not as good as figures look
● When a touring team features a tweaker who’s the fastest to 300 test wickets, the hosts have every right to be quaking in their boots.
The spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, has 304 scalps in 55 tests but 220 have been at home in 35 matches.
There’s also the threat of Ravindra Jadeja. Only 34 of his 165 wickets have been collected away.
Former Proteas left-arm spinner Paul Harris said these statistics point to the toothlessness of these tweakers on the road, but parched Cape Town could give them reasonable conditions.
South Africa’s less amiable surfaces won’t allow Virat Kohli to pick both and Harris said Jadeja could be picked ahead of Ashwin.
“In our conditions, they’ll have to pick one and I think that’ll be Jadeja. He spins the ball away from the right-hander and he’s quicker through the air. He’s difficult to score off and he’s hard to get away. One does hope the pitches don’t suit spin bowlers but India also have good seamers so pitch preparation has to be precise,” Harris said.
“Their best opportunity will be in Cape Town because of the expected dry wicket caused by the drought. There hasn’t been much water there so it’s going to be interesting to see what the wicket is going to be like there.”
Seamer rotation is going to be paramount in South Africa, especially looking at the fact that India may pick five fast bowlers if the conditions are going to be helpful.
During the 2013/14 second test in Durban, Jadeja rifled through 58.2 overs of South Africa’s marathon 155.2-over first innings, collecting a then career-best 6/138.
It was Ashwin who had to make way for Jadeja after the tall offspinner was rendered irrelevant by a South African batting unit stopping eight runs short of making chasing history.
That first test at the Wanderers was drawn when South Africa made 450/7 chasing 458. Two of South Africa’s potential batting countermeasures to India’s spin threat made centuries: the returning AB de Villiers and current captain Faf du Plessis.
Former Proteas limited-overs spinner and former selector Shafiek Abrahams said Jadeja would be better suited to the stock bowling role, and the bounce available in South Africa will make him a dangerous prospect.
“India’s spinners are going to have a similar role to what our spinners used to do in the past at home.
“Our pitches haven’t always spun as much as compared to Asia so that holding role becomes very important.
“If the spinners get a wicket or two, that’s seen to be a bonus in the scheme of things but their role is to ensure the seamers have recuperation time in-between spells,” Abrahams said.
“Bounce is always good for spin bowlers and Ashwin is one of those bowlers who benefits from that. He hits the bat very high up and you can’t really get after him but in test cricket, you have no choice but to do so. At least South Africans bat better against spin in South Africa and they’ll want to put them under pressure.”
Their best opportunity will be in Cape Town because of the expected dry wicket caused by the drought Paul Harris Former Proteas spinner