They sweep at just about anything, anywhere. Or, alternatively, jump out in desperation and try to whack the ball outside the park — Englishmen and their proficiency in tackling quality spin is an open secret. Their passing grades reflect in the continuing success of Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Danish Kaneria, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed in the county circuit for years together, but this story is about two relatively unknown guys, who could spin the home team out as much as the proven lot has done in international cricket. Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla have long been understudies and have taken their slot through diversified means — Powar pulling the rug from under Harbhajan’s feet and Chawla waiting patiently for Kumble to vacate his place.But together, they form an equally potent, if not lethal, combination of off-spin and leg-spin and bowl well in tandem like the past masters. “It feels nice when we bowl together,” says Powar. “It’s a nice variation when we (off-spinner and leg-spinner) bowl from either end, keeping the batsmen guessing all the time.” While Powar’s burly figure on the field may have amused many, Chawla is a supremely fit athlete. If the latter tries the quicker googly as his variant, Powar prefers lobbing it a bit more in the air to bring variety to his flighted deliveries. They have broken partnerships and forced the run-rate down. Right now everyone is just raving about Zaheer Khan and RP Singh in the aftermath of the Test series. Agarkar and Munaf are too spoken about in opposition team meetings but the spin duo is quietly raising its own banner through nagging bowling spells to suggest that they can make the vital difference in the seven-match ODI series. “I have seen most of the England batsmen and know their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, I will be able to get all the 11 batsmen whenever they come in front of me” says Chawla. “I will just try and bowl well and aim to give support to the bowler from the other end.”But bowling spin here is not easy — the Duke ball does have a prominent seam but it goes soft after 20 overs. Though it’s still easy to grip, it lacks the bite that cricket balls back home can purchase from the wicket. The constant rain and wet outfield makes the challenge even harder as one always runs the risk of being taken to the cleaners in the shorter version. “In these conditions, it’s difficult to hold the ball, but we are practising that at nets and it’s helping us cope better,” says Powar. Their performance in the last two matches — Glasgow and Northampton — has been heartening and has opened up a new avenue for Rahul Dravid to ponder over before the day-night encounter at the Rose Bowl. But it means the Indian skipper may have to heavily tinker with the balance of the side to incorporate the new trend. “I would love to play every game with Piyush but it depends on team management, it has to decide whether they want one or two spinners in the XI,” says Powar.Should India play with five bowlers and leave out Kaarthick from the middle-order or keep Munaf out? Before Dravid decides on his options, he would like to weigh Chawla’s latest exploits against the weaker teams like Ireland, Zimbabwe and Kenya while he just about managed with moderate success against a depleted South Africa. However, Chawla sounds very confident of delivering the goods.And, who knows, life may come full circle for Chawla. He started off with his Test debut against England and went into hibernation soon after that. This time in the ODIs, he might get the kick-start he needs to cement his place. As for Powar, he’s proven his capabilities whenever he’s got the opportunity.Rained in, Indians focus on footballSouthampton: It might have been an Indian summer for Team India in the Test series, but bad weather seems to be chasing the visitors wherever they are going. Leaving Northampton straight after the rained off match with England Lions yesterday, the team drove into Southampton last night, and landed straight back into the rain.The wicket at the Rose Bowl — home to Hampshire county — has a reputation of seaming a bit and putting the batsmen in a spot of bother. But neither skipper Rahul Dravid, nor any of his teammates ventured out to make a visit to the Rose Bowl. With a steady drizzle continuing throughout the day and the pitch completely covered, the Indians preferred resting the whole day in their hotel rooms. The met department has predicted another wet day tomorrow, but luckily, the match day has a better forecast. With a packed Super Sunday as far as football fixtures go, most of the players chose to watch Liverpool vs Chelsea in their rooms at the Bontley Park Golf and Country Club, except for Sourav Ganguly, who took the train to Portsmouth and went shopping. Practice is, however, scheduled at the indoor stadium on Monday.
