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NEWS Cricket World Cup 2007>India hoping for spin magic to do the trick in World Cup 26th Feb 2007 22.03 IST By Agencies Spin is the mantra India would bank upon in the middle overs on what's generally expected to be wickets offering slow pace and low bounce in the Caribbean during the upcoming World Cup. With two frontline spinners in their squad and a couple of others good enough to share the burden jointly, India have a healthy spin mix to tie down the rival batsmen.
Kumble, who is to play in his fourth World Cup, may have to yield the tag of the first spinner of the squad to off spinner Harbhajan Singh and could get a look-in in the playing eleven only if the team thinks of using two slow bowlers. The stalwart would be eager to bow out of the one-day game in glory if and when he gets his chance to show his wares in which pin-point accuracy and consistent stump-line attack with subtle pace and spin variations are his major virtues. Kumble, who was brought back into one-day reckoning during the last two home series after having been ignored for more than a year, had claimed only five wickets in three matches in the last World Cup, including a four-wicket haul against The Netherlands. The 36-year-old Bangalore star bowled economically with a haul of 1-24 in seven overs against eventual champions Australia in the league phase and was expensive against Pakistan later when he conceded 51 runs in ten overs and did not play another match in South Africa. After making an impressive Cup debut in the sub-continent in 1996 with a haul of 15 wickets in seven matches, Kumble was far less successful in England three years later and had only 8 wickets in 7 matches. With his strike rate coming down even further in 2003, it remains to be seen how well he can rise up to the occasion in the West Indies when he is given a chance to play with Harbhajan, the first choice spinner going into the tournament. The Punjab off spinner, who too struggles generally away from the sub continent in taking wickets, was also far from impressive in 2003 when he could take only five wickets in as many ties. It will be an acid test for the 26-year-old Jalandhar-born bowler, difficult to face at home on wickets where the ball grips and turns, but in alien conditions it's hoped that his experience of having toured West Indies last year would stand him in good stead. He was not in the thick of wickets on that tour, with only three to his credit in five matches, but was quite economical by conceding less than four runs an over, something the Indian think tank would love him to repeat at the mega event. Overall the duo's vast experience of having played 417 matches and taken 504 wickets together is the best record for spinners of any team in the competition, but the important factor is how well they translate this into performance in crunch times. To add teeth to the slow bowling mix is the duo of Sachin Tendulkar , described as a very clever bowler by West Indian legend Garfield Sobers recently, and Virender Shewag . The former can bowl a bewildering variety of spin - leg, off, googly and top spinners - while Sehwag's strong point is his line and length when bowling off breaks. With Yuvraj Singh present as another slow bowling option with his left-arm orthodox stuff, the team is easily the best served one in slow bowling along with Sri Lanka. Strangely in the first two World Cups spin greats Erapalli Prasanna and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar were felt not economical enough to be included in the Indian team. Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who captained India in these two tournaments, and Bishen Singh Bedi were more intent on containment than in taking wickets in England in 1975 and 1979 when India were still finding their feet in the one-day game. In 1983 too, it was the fast medium and medium fast bowlers led by Kapil Dev who delivered the goods in India's triumphant run in seam-friendly conditions. Things expectedly took a turn for the better at home in 1987 and spin was dominant for India till the semi finals when Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh were swept away by England's Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting. In 1992, left arm Venkatapathy Raju was the lone regular slow bowler Down Under and performed below par by claiming only three wickets in five matches. Raju and Kumble combined forces quite well when the Cup returned to the sub-continent in 1996 to share 23 wickets between them while off spinner Ashish Kapoor was used in two ties and did little of note. Generally, it has been a mix of the good and the bad for spinners in India's World Cup history, and it's now hoped they can play a crucial role in the success of the team in the West Indies. Also View In-Depth Coverage: Cricket World Cup 2007 Team Page: India Team Page: West Indies | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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