Doosra Murali146;s first big step

When the Australia A side came to India, they had the big picture in mind. With an eye on Australia8217;s tour here later...

When the Australia A side came to India, they had the big picture in mind. With an eye on Australia8217;s tour here later this month, they drafted three spinners in their squad. In their eagerness to take a stock of their slow bowling department, they probably forgot to focus on India8217;s spin strength and how their batsmen would deal in these conditions.

The success of the 36-year-old leggie Bryce McGain 3/51 yesterday and India being all out for 284 today would have made the Australians believe that things were going as planned. But with the visitors reeling at 113/8 at the end of day two and five of the wickets falling to Indian spinners, the old weakness of teams touring the sub-continent lay exposed.

The man responsible for Australia8217;s dismal position was 20-year-old Monish Parmar, who has hit the headlines more often than not for his action. A Muttiah Muralitharan clone, he has both the conventional off-spinner and the doosra. The other similarity is that Parmar, like the Sri Lankan legend, has been under constant scrutiny with the microscope on the degrees at which his elbow bends while bowling. But today, all talk was about the deviation he got from the helpful track and the degree of difficulty he posed to the Australians.

Parmar finished the day with figures of 3/37 and the wicket that he relished most was that of the Australia A skipper Simon Katich, who incidentally happens to be the only batsman in the visiting team with the experience of playing the original freak from Sri Lanka.

Secret weapon

Australia A coach Helmot Simon admitted they had no idea about Parmar and had they known more about him, Katich could8217;ve been consulted. 8220;We know the leggie Piyush Chawla, and we had watched tapes of him. But Parmar, with his Murali-like action, took us by surprise. It was tough for our batsmen to pick him,8221; said Helmot after the match.

But in the Indian dressing room, no one was complaining. Wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who happens to be Parmar8217;s captain in domestic competition when they play for Gujarat, has got a fair idea about the strength of Murali II. 8220;His doosra is very tough to read. I have watched him closely from behind the stumps but at times even I find it tough to pick him at the nets,8221; says Parthiv.

Since his days of tennis ball cricket, Parmar has stuck to aping Murali. 8220;When I was very young I saw Murali on television and saw how he used to trouble the batsmen. I started mimicking him during tennis ball games we used to play and got instant success. And nothing changed when I switched to playing with a proper ball,8221; he says.

Out of the shadows

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After a few creditable shows with the ball at the junior level, Parmar was picked for the under-19 World Cup in 2006 in Lanka. He played a few games with modest success, but during this tournament he was reported for an action correction by the ICC officials. Several days at the NCA saw him make slight changes to his action. But with Gujarat playing in the Plate division, Parmar8217;s exploits with the ball didn8217;t get due coverage.

But the selectors have recently felt that the unconventional action could make him a candidate for the senior side, which is why he has been handed this India A break. Parmar didn8217;t disappoint on Thursday as he, along with leggie Chawla, put the Aussies on the backfoot.

Not just that, he even exposed the team that is known to be the best prepared in the world for not doing their homework well.