Indian spinners will again be the trump card in the second Test against Australia, starting in Bengaluru on Saturday, ace former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani predicted on Friday. Hirwani will be at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium ringside -- and possibly watch his disciple Kuldeep Yadav, a Chinaman bowler, make his Test debut.
After the Australian spinners ensured India’s doom on a treacherous pitch prepared for the first Test in Pune, the focus remains on the pitch and the spinners of the two teams here in Bengaluru. The Indian batsmen were at sea as the Aussie spinners captured 17 of the 20 wickets to fall, including in-form Virat Kohli’s two-ball duck in the first innings. India were shot for 105 and 107 to lose the match by 333 runs well inside three days. In all, spinners captured 31 of the 40 wickets that fell in Pune.
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But Hirwani, whose 16 wickets on Test debut in 1988 is still a record, feels the second Test could give a new dimension to the four-Test series.
“If we do well here, this Test match could turn around the series. I hope we stage a comeback here. After all, hope is eternal,” says a smiling Hirwani, who is now a spinners’ coach at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy, told Outlook on Friday.
Hirwani, 48, says winning the spin of the coin would be key for Kohli at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
“If a wicket like Pune is prepared for the second Test then winning the toss would become vital. But spinners would be the trump card here too, though I have not seen the wicket so far,” he said.
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“By the way, if Kohli had won the toss in Pune, the result would have been completely different,” he said, looking back. Hirwani, however, quickly clarified that winning alone wouldn’t held and that players would have to perform better than the opposition to win.
There is some extra interest for Hirwani in Bangalore as his protégé Kuldeep Yadav, who bowls unconventional left-arm leg-breaks to right-handed batsmen, could well be in contention for Test debut. However, Kohli on Friday declined to commit on the playing XI, saying he has three combinations in mind.
He nevertheless used the word “surprise” while answering a question about the possible playing XI during the customary press conference.
Hirwani had a chat with the Uttar Pradesh’s Kuldeep during the Indian team’s practice session at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“I told him to be mentally prepared to play, even if you are included in the team at the last moment, much like all the fielders expect the ball to come their way when a bowler bowls,” he revealed about his talk with Kuldeep.
He added, “After all, anything could happen; a player could get injured or fall ill overnight and you are asked to play the match.”
In Pune, which was hosting its first Test match, India lost the first Test after a long, long time. The unbeaten streak at home ran for 19 Tests since tasting defeat to England in Kolkata in 2012.
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Looking at the Pune defeat, Hirwani was philosophical, as usual. “After all, the 20th match HAD to be won. It’s human nature that you get mentally relaxed a bit after going unbeaten for 19 matches, though the body would continue to work well cent per cent,” he said.
And giving full credit to Australia, Hirwani said, “They had prepared well, no doubt. They were clearly hungrier than India in Pune.”
