Left-arm may be the right choice

Eventually, the choice for Greg Chappell will boil down to how many spinners to go with, two or three. And when the Indian team management carries out its early morning pitch inspection two players will be on tenterhooks — Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik.

On the match-eve Chappell appeared to be still dealing with the dilemma. Both Kartik and Agarkar got longish spells at the nets and also a personal chat with the coach. At the end of the session Chappell — atypically, given his penchant for early team announcements — kept his cards close to his chest.

Later, he explained where his bowlers had gone wrong at Chennai, where they were put to the sword by Mahela Jayawardene. ‘‘The Sri Lankan bowlers bowled under better conditions. My bowlers told me that the ball wasn’t hard enough when they were on the field. That is our perception and I hope it’s true. If it isn’t we certainly need to improve,’’ he said.

With the overwhelming brown of the track making pace a tough choice it’s likely Kartik will make the cut. And going by curator Prabir Mukherjee’s promise of some bounce, the left-arm spinner can expect some bite from the track. Even though Kotla old-timers see the Test as a runfeast, Kartik will fit in the scheme of things given the long spells the slow bowlers are expected to bowl. With the part-time spinners not expected to do much damage on this track a specialist third spinner could prove decisive.

There’s also Sri Lanka’s lack of familiarity with quality orthodox left-arm spin bowling. The island hasn’t seen too many of them; the current squad has an uncapped left-arm spinner in Sajeewa Weerakoon while Sanath Jayasuriya, missing from this side, has 90-odd wickets from 100 Tests. The last time a genuine left-armer played Test cricket for Lanka was in 1982 — Ajit de Silva.

The case for Agarkar rests on his 12-wicket haul during the ODI series against Lanka — which made him the highest wicket-taker — and his ability to reverse swing.

But Kartik, who with his flight and guile isn’t a natural player for the shorter version, was the most successful Indian spinner with seven wickets. The last two Tests that Kartik has played have been in the company of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. In one — the spin-friendly Test at Mumbai against Australia last year — he got the Man of the Match Award.

For Chappell, reared on hard and bouncy tracks Down Under, playing three spinners would be a new experience. But if he examines India’s Test record at home or confers with Anil Kumble, he’ll know that this is a tried and trusted Indian experiment with a spectacular success rate.