L Siva: Bahutule a better choice than Hirwani

Every time the Australians come to India there is one overlying fear. Is the threat of Shane Warne potent enough to scare the Indians into serving up pitches that don't turn? Past experience suggest that this is certainly not the case. Yet, there seems to be endless discussion about the playing surfaces India should prepare. The absence of India's lethal weapon Anil Kumble only heightened these fears. After ages India called up three leg spinners to the preparatory camp. Sairaj Bahutule, WD Balaji Rao and Narendra Hirwani got a chance to peddle their wares and catch the eye of the captain and the coach and of course the selectors. At the end of the camp Hirwani got the nod despite his disadvantages in the fielding, batting and fitness departments.

There was another man at the camp, not just this time around but in 1998 as well. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has long been out of contention for national selection. Yet, Tendulkar unfailingly asks for 'LS' as Siva is known to his mates when he needs practice against quality leg spin bowling. "Tendulkar basically wanted practice batting against a leg spinner bowling into the rough outside leg stump," explained Siva in a chat with CricInfo on Sunday. "We made some rough footmarks outside the leg stump and then bowled. Many batsmen had a go but it was mostly Tendulkar who wanted to practice in this manner," he continued. Surely, Tendulkar could achieve the same results with a young leg spinner who fancied his chances? Apparently not. Talking to Siva while the 35-year-old former India leg spinner was playing a match for his corporate side India Cements it was immediately clear that this was a man who knew what he was talking about.

"Shane Warne is a great leg spinner. No doubting that. He isn't doing so well here because he's bowling a bit on the shorter side," said Siva. "Even if you take the game against Mumbai, you would have noticed that he got most of his wickets when the batsman gave him the charge. Only Vinod Kambli got out to a genuinely good ball," he went on. Indeed, even a great bowler like Warne will have to adapt if he wants to be successful in Indian conditions.

"Adaptability is the key. The hallmark of a great team is the ability to beat anyone away. Simply winning at home won't do," said Siva. "Take Clive Lloyd's great West Indian team. They beat England in England, went to Australia and won there. When they came to India, they once again showed that they were world beaters," he concluded.

Coming to the selection of Hirwani at 32, Siva was a bit skeptical "If the Australian top order collapses, Hirwani will be a good bowler to have in your side. The Australian lower order are not great against spin. If that doesn't happen though, I'm not sure Hirwani is the best choice available," opined Siva. "Sairaj Bahutule would have been the ideal choice. He has a bit more variety with the ball and there's no doubt that his youth is a bonus. He fields better and is no mug with the bat. It's a game of five days remember. With age on his side Bahutule would have been able to go the distance better," he added. "Also, if you have Bahutule in the side, you can go into the game with five bowlers, using him and Nayan Mongia as the sixth batsman," explained Siva.

There is more than one valid point in the line of thinking that `LS' expounds. Bowling spin might not be in a very healthy state in India at the moment. But surely, there's no paucity of knowledge about the art.