Little precedent for Waugh's gamble

Steve Waugh stood conventional wisdom on its head by inserting India on winning the toss at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. It was an inspired gamble but one which had little precedent in history. On Indian turners the side batting last is perceived to be at a manifest disadvantage and visiting captains are extremely wary of summoning the option to field first. The decision must have rested a little easier on Waugh by the realisation that India were sporting their most novice spin attack for many years, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Sanghvi having precisely eight Tests and 21 wickets between them.

Unless the wicket was totally bald, Australia were always going to play to their own strengths by going in with three seamers. The unexpected sight of a generous tinge of green on Monday morning must have confirmed their basic instinct. Although the grass was whittled down in the intervening hours, the wicket's appearance was still inviting enough for the seamers. Most Indian wickets offer generous assistance to the quicks in the first session of the game before easing out as the day progresses. Waugh obviously backed his quicks to do irretrievable damage in the morning, which they carried out to telling effect, and Australia would have good reason to be satisfied at India's final score of 176.

Incredibly this is only the seventh instance in 82 Test match tosses won by visiting captains in India that the hosts have been put in. History is on Waugh's side for the only previous time Australia employed the tactic, India were handed a 10 wicket rout. Bill Lawry did the inserting at Calcutta back in 1969-70 and India lost both openers without a run on the board against a rampant Graham McKenzie, stumbling finally to 212 on the second morning. Even a riot on the fourth day could not halt Australia's victory march.

But the next four occasions - twice at the Wankhede Stadium - served to drive more holes in the theory than a block of Swiss cheese. Alvin Kallicharan, Keith Fletcher, Imran Khan and Arjuna Ranatunga all saw India pile up over 400 in their first innings; each time the match was drawn. Last season at Mohali, easily the most seaming track in the land, Stephen Fleming saw India being shot out for 83 on the first morning. To his chagrin the wicket eased up to allow India hammer over 500 in their second knock and as the match closed the boot was on the other foot with only three wickets separating New Zealand from defeat.

Surprisingly Indian captains have been slightly fonder of the same tactic, considering their bowling has been traditionally tilted towards spin. Lala Amarnath was the pioneer, back in 1952-53 against Pakistan, and Tiger Pataudi did it thrice in the 60s and 70s. But India never could win a Test, losing three and drawing the other five. Steve Waugh himself is no stranger to the gambit. Out of 13 previous tosses won, Waugh conceded first strike five times, twice each against Pakistan and West Indies and once against New Zealand. Needless to say, Australia won on every occasion.