Let's face it

A robust batting show against Tamil Nadu, may paint a rosy picture for Maharashtra ahead of their Andhra tie, but the larger question is: Do we have the bowlers to take twenty wickets?

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirrror November 10, 2008

The pall of dejection that surrounded the Maharashtra team for the first day and a half in the face of a battering handed out by the Tamil Nadu batsmen in their Ranji opener, gave way to an upbeat mood on the back of a robust batting riposte by the State side for the next two and a half days. The spring in the steps of the Maharashtra side was amply evident from the way they went about their strenuous practice session ahead of the crucial second tie against Andhra.

Clearly, an air of 'all is fine with the State team' is palpable, but the larger picture is: Do we have the bowlers to take the twenty wickets to win a match? Tad taken aback by the poser, State coach Shaun Williams refused to buy that, emphatically saying his side has the bowling ammunition to run through side twice in a match. "If we thought these bowlers didn't have it in them to bowl a side out twice in a match, there won't be picked in the side. Trust me, they are not here to make the numbers," he snapped back.

But doesn't he think that too much talk about the opening game wicket as a belter being used as an 'excuse' for the spineless bowling effort by Maharashtra? "You got to be fair on the bowlers. We lost the toss against Tamil Nadu and bowled when the wicket was at its best for batting. When you have a featherbed, you got to make early inroads with the new ball, otherwise you are going to be doing leather chasing under the hot sun. We need to make maximum damage with the new ball," he explains.

Agreed, the wicket was a batting beauty. How about the State spinners falling short of expectations (taking only one of the three wickets to fall) on the same 'belter' where Tamil Nadu tweakers snaffled thirteen scalps? "Look, the ideal situation for the spinners to be in full cry is when the seamers have knocked over a few top-order batsmen. Spinners need assistance from the seamers who didn't hit the right areas. Fallah looked good in his opening spell but was guilty of some wayward stuff thereafter. Dole didn't bowl as well as he can," he reasons.

The long foreign player in the side, Bangladesh's Enamul Haque was bandied about our trump card in the spin bowling department. But he was tonked all over the park like a school boy bowler. "Don't be harsh on Enamul. He was playing his first game, he was probably trying too hard. I'm sure he will come sooner than later," Williams jumps to his defense. The strip for the second game also looks to be another batting beauty. So what would be his success mantra for his bowlers if there isn't much in the wicket. "Seamers need to put the ball on the 'corridor of uncertainty' with a fair amount of consistency when there's not much happening off the wicket. As for the spinners, I thought there were concentrating a lot on taking wickets. They should look at creating pressure on the batsmen by drying up the runs and maintaining tight overs which would see frustration get the better of the batsmen," he said.

Maharashtra team selector and manager Pandurang Salgonakar feels lack of genuine quick bowlers in the state side is a major shortcoming for the side. "We don't have anyone who can hustle up a batsman with speed. Only somebody who is quick through the air can cause destruction on wickets which are heavily loaded in favour of the batters," the fomer Ranji seamer said. Discipline is going to be the prime factor, feels Salgonakar. "You can't just steam in and blast the batsmen away. Our seamers have to mix it up if the are to succeed on batsmen-friendly decks. As far as our spinners are concerned, it's important for them to understand it's not always about turning the ball. Altering the speed of the ball for a spinner is a must," he added.