Attitude of Indian spin bowlers depressing: Prasanna

Staff Reporter

April 7, 2001

The absence of the right attitude among Indian bowlers towards learning more about the art of spin to make it big in the international arena was a cause for concern, former Indian off spinner Erappalli Prasanna said in Chennai on Friday.

The difference in approach was very evident if one drew a comparision with the nine youngsters from the Australian Cricket Board, who underwent coaching on spin bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation. "All are willing listeners and ever eager to learn more. They will definitely play for their country," he said.

Prasanna and Bishen Singh Bedi have been giving tips and teaching the nuances of spin bowling to the Australians since yesterday. "The Australians wanted to know from me as to how I bowled differently in one-day games. I advised them to first maintain line and length, then the rudiments of spin bowling before thinking of the loop or arc'.

This was in contrast to the Indians, who did not recognise him. Some felt it was below their dignity to ask him for tips.

Prasanna also cited another example to illustrate the difference in attitude of the ACB. The Board, he said, had watched the improvement in performances of players like Mathew Hayden, Brad Haddin, Simon Katich and Mathew Elliott, who had undergone training under Bedi and himself and then decided to send a larger group. "They feel it is important for their bowlers to learn a lot from experts like us."

Referring to Indian spinners, Prasanna felt that even celebrated offie Harbhajan Singh, who picked up a record 32 wickets in the recently concluded Test series, was not a 'complete off spinner'. How many times had Harbhajan beaten a player or clean bowled a batsman in his 32 wicket haul in the three Test matches against Australia, he asked. "All his 32 wickets were given to him. Harbhajan is a class bowler. But he has to learn to be consistent and work harder."

Prasanna said the Australian boys would play matches against first division league teams for two days before having three days of nets.

Anthony Clark, Sean Cingeleffer, Steven Commbes, Simon Dart, Xavier Doherty, Mark Higgs, Brad Hidge, Scott O'leary and Shane Watson are the nine players who arrived here on Wednesday last to gain experience under the challenging conditions in the sub-continent.

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