England hoping counter spin effectively

India go into the second Test in Ahmedabad on Tuesday hoping to take another step towards a 3-0 whitewash of England, which looks a real possibility after the comprehensive 10-wicket victory in Mohali last week.

Mohali was supposed to be England's best bet considering the green-top wicket there, but the visitors still danced to the tunes of the Indian spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, who walked away with 15 wickets between them.

With the pitch in Ahmedabad likely to aid the spinners a bit more than the one at Mohali, India have a good chance of taking a 2-0 lead.

Kumble and Harbhajan hold the key to India's fortunes and though speedster Javagal Srinath, who replaced an injured Sanjay Bangar after recovering from his finger fracture, sustained in South Africa, is a certainty for the game, he can at best play a supporting role.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly was oozing with confidence after the Mohali match when he said his team would be going for a 3-0 result. It was a remarkable transformation in the man who had run out of reasons to explain his team's poor showing after every defeat in South Africa.

Ganguly said the pitch looks favourable for spin bowling, especially on the last two days, but he was not very keen to include the third spinner, Sharandeep Singh, in the side.

"Both leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh are in tremendous form and with Srinath back in the side to contain runs from the other end there is no need for a third specialist spinner," Ganguly said, and pointed out that if need arose Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who is back in the team after serving the one-match suspension in Mohali, can be asked to chip in with their spin bowling.

"However, we will consult the selectors in the evening before finalising the list of twelve," Ganguly said, while not shutting the door on Sharandeep.

In keeping with the requirements, England too were reinforcing their spin attack, with left-arm spinner Ashley Giles expected to be fit for the match. Hussain said Giles and off-spinner Richard Dawson, who was quite successful in Mohali, bowling in tandem could make a big difference to the team's fortunes.

However, it remains to be seen how much dent these two spinners are able to make in the Indian batting line-up that is famous for tackling spin well, especially on home pitches.

The return of Sehwag will further strengthen the Indian batting which put up a commendable show in Mohali. With the exception of Shiv Sunder Das, all the batsmen got runs and a similar performance can be expected in Ahmedabad too.

Wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was the pick of the Indian batsmen in Mohali and with a Test century behind him he is definitely going to be a bigger asset to the team.

Ganguly was very happy with the way Dasgupta evolved in the last few matches and said he is a very good prospect for the team even though he had to improve on his wicketkeeping.

"After a long time we have got a wicketkeeper who can bat well and I think it is just a matter of time before he comes into his own," Ganguly said.

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar helped themselves to big scores in Mohali but both of them missed their centuries while Ganguly himself got out after being well set at 47.

Ganguly said he is looking forward to leaving behind a spate of low scores in Tests with a good knock in Ahmedabad.

"Hopefully, I will get a big score here," he said.

New ball bowlers Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui also turned out a good performance in Mohali and came in for lavish praise both from Ganguly and coach John Wright.

"It is good that we are unearthing some fine fast bowlers and it will be a good experience for them to bowl with an experienced bowler like Srinath," Ganguly said. "However, it is too early to predict anything as they (England) have a long way to go with the two bowlers having played just a game each," he added.

Siddiqui is a doubtful starter for the match as he is likely to be left out to accommodate Sehwag.

Even though the prospects look quite good for India, Ganguly was not ready to take things for granted. "We should not be overconfident as we all know England can bounce back into the series as they did in Sri Lanka."

Hussain conceded his side was found wanting in the first Test but said his players were learning from their mistakes and would be able to tackle Kumble and Harbhajan better in the next two Tests.

"We don't have spinners who can turn the ball both ways in the same action back home and that was one of the reasons why his batsmen found it difficult play them," he said.

"However, I am confident we can beat India only if our batsmen put on more runs and our bowlers get the famous three (Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly) pretty early as Indians have a long tail," Hussain said.

He was also hopeful his main batsmen -- Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash -- would come into their own so that there will be enough runs for his bowlers to have a go at the Indian batsmen.

Teams (from):
India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Shiv Sunder Das, Connor Williams, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Deep Dasgupta (wk), Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Tinu Yohanan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sharandeep Singh.

England: Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, Richard Dawson, James Foster (wk), Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff, Craig White, James Ormond, Usman Afzaal, Martyn Ball, Michael Vaughan, Warren Hegg and Richard Johnson.

Umpires: Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe) and A V Jayprakash (India). Third umpire: Jasbir Singh (India).

Match referee: Dennis Lindsay.

Mail Cricket Editor