Spinning a batting tale

Indian batters Axar Patel (left) and Ravichandran Ashwin run between the wickets during the second Test between India and Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Credit: PTI Photo

For years, India were on the hunt for a pace-bowling all-rounder, someone who could fit the larger-than-life void left behind by Kapil Dev. An array of talent over a generation or two was put under the microscope but shelved just as quickly in favour of someone more promising, only for them to fall short again.

While Indian cricket failed to escape the shadow cast by Dev, at least the management isn’t obsessed with it anymore, they were never really in pursuit of spinning all-rounders. It was nice if the spinners happened to know how to hang around with the bat in hand, and a lot of them did, but there wasn’t a push for it because...?

Some theorise that their usage, especially in the subcontinent, could be a reason why they aren’t pressed with the demand. Others believe that most spinners have an innate acumen for batting so they are commonly left to their own devices.

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Among the famous spin quartet, EAS Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi and S Venkataraghavan were not all-rounders by any stretch of the imagination, but each of them could play time if not score runs. That’s more than you could say about the pacers of the era and thereafter, save for a few names built roughly in the mould of Dev.

Then there was Ravi Shastri, who apart from picking 151 wickets at an average of 40.96, scored 3830 runs from 80 matches at an average of 35.79 with 11 centuries and 12 half-centuries.

“I think it has something to do with being able to read spin because we bowl spin. That can be more than useful on Indian conditions,” hypothesises Shastri when asked about spinners’ success. “We don’t take many of them when we travel, but the ones we have taken, have spent so much time batting in first-class cricket, that they know how to operate with the bat.

“We never really pushed for a spinning all-rounder because we always knew our spinners could bat,” Shastri adds while speaking to DHoS at the Feroz Shah Kota stadium on Saturday.

Even if you look at the spinners who came after Shastri, Anil Kumble - India's highest Test-wicket taker at 619 - scored 2506 runs from 132 Tests at an average of 17.77, but he has a Test century and five half-centuries.

Harbhajan Singh, who has 417 Test scalps, has scored two centuries and nine half-centuries en route 2224 runs from 103 Tests at an average of 18.22.

So, the truth is, Indian cricket has had a tradition of spinners who can bat, but this, what is going on right now, is unheralded, bordering on unfair.

R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav are in India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

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The first three names on the aforementioned list are most likely to play each of the four Tests against Australia in the ongoing series purely on their ability to bowl and pick up wickets as if sauntering through a supermarket with endless cash. But, each of the three can bat, and how. Thanks to these tweakers, India can bat deep quite contrary to their composition in white-ball cricket where they have a long tail.

Before the start of the second Test in New Delhi, Ashwin backed his 457 Test wickets with 3066 runs from 89 Tests at an average of 27.37, including five centuries and 15 half-centuries.

Jadeja had 249 wickets from 61 Tests with 2593 runs at an average of 37.04. He has three Test tons and 18 half-centuries.

Axar’s 48 Test scalps in 10 matches (yes, 19 innings) come with 407 runs with three half-centuries, including the crucial 84 he compiled against Australia in Nagpur last week and the 74 in Delhi on Saturday.

“This has never happened and it possibly never will,” says Shastri. “We have had some in the past but for an entire bunch like this to be as good that too, phenomenal.”

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Joshi, who himself was no mug with the bat, seconds it: “We are blessed to have this level of talent in the side. It’s (all-round acumen) not like we were born with it, it’s something we worked hard on.”

Joshi may have played a mere 15 Tests for 352 runs and 41 wickets but his 92 against Bangladesh in 2000 revealed something that was ignored or forgotten. Before making his debut in 1996, the left-arm spinner had been prolific as a batter in first-class cricket. He finished his career with 5129 runs at an average of 26.71, including four centuries and 26 half-centuries.

The Karnataka player laughs when reminded of his numbers, and says it all comes down to mindset.

Joshi, or anyone who was contacted in reference to the story, finds it impossible to pinpoint a reason for spinners showing batting proficiency. But the coincidence of most of them being left-arm spinners isn’t missed.

Vinoo Mankad, Bapu Nadkarni, Salim Durani, Rusi Surti, Shastri, Joshi, Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep.

“Even I don’t understand what that is about, just a coincidence, I’m sure, but it’s interesting,” says Shastri.

Are they all all-rounders in the traditional sense of the word though?

Perhaps not. In fact, even Ashwin, for long, wasn't considered an all-rounder despite his consistency with the bat. Axar, who is seventh on the list of Test all-rounder rankings, isn't perceived as a genuine all-rounder either.

In that sense, what an all-rounder stands for should be revisited because by that Jadeja too was only a bowler who could bat a bit in his early days as a Test cricketer. Sure, he turned it around to now fall in the category of an all-rounder, but by and large, he’s still only a bowler who bats.

“We had to give him the confidence to succeed at the international level,” reveals Shastri. “We had to push him up the order and trust in him. He had three triple-centuries in first-class cricket and averaged nearly 50 so he could bat a bit (smirks), but he needed the push. Once he got that, he has never looked back.”

It’s a fine line, but we can’t use old standards in the current climate to dictate what an all-rounder is.

Irrespective, these are spinners who can bat, and bat very well. They have shown time and again that they can give India a bit more to bowl with when the situation arises.

Even in the opening Test in Nagpur, Jadeja and Axar put up half-centuries to give India a total big enough to morally wound Australia. It won’t always be the case, but one can be assured that at least one of the three will come good.

Never has India enjoyed a situation such as this one. Frankly, it doesn’t look like they will again. So, enjoy the ride while it lasts because all good things come to an end.