How left proved right in this World Cup

“Left-arm spinner is a must in any form of the game,” says legendary Bishen Singh Bedi. “He can be used as an attacking option or as a defensive tool. I can’t understand the short-vision programme of our selectors and ignoring the left-arm spinners. The selectors look like a confused lot.”

We have Murali Kartik, Man of the Match in his last Test, waiting for his next call-up since the last 30 months, and eventually taking the county route — he will be playing for Middlesex — to grab the selectors’ attention. We have Shahbaz Nadim and Ravinder Jadeja, the India under-19 left-arm duo, waiting in the wings to graduate from India A to the senior team. We also have Kiran Powar, the surprise inclusion in the World Cup 30 probables.

“Tell me one thing, is it not strange that Middlesex want Kartik to play for them while he can’t play for India?” asks Bedi. “Obviously Middlesex won’t sign up a sub-standard spinner, so the sooner we accept our mistakes and give him his place back, the better.”

Rajinder Goel, a left-arm spinner who holds the domestic record for the highest number of wickets, also suggests that “Kartik should be given more confidence from team management and the coach. He has done well for India and needs an extended run.” He, however, reiterates that there’s no dearth of quality left-arm spinners but they need to be groomed properly.

Interestingly, Bedi was part of a BCCI-backed spin camp along with VV Kumar and Erapalli Prasanna till last year, where they had identified a set of young left-arm spinners, but has no idea why the project has been shelved midway.

Maninder Singh, former India left-arm spinner and now a commentator, believes “the time has come for selectors to look towards the left-arm spin option. Apart from Kartik, we have a bowler in Baroda, one in Jharkhand, Saurashtra and some younger ones in Hyderabad and Karnataka. They can’t be ignored for long.”

Team India, in the post-Sourav captaincy phase, seem to have done away with the left-arm spinners. But Bedi calls it rather unfortunate saying the Indian team has become personality-oriented.

Cricket is a team game and no particular individual can comment or should impose his ideas on the selectors. Maninder, too, feels that “left-arm spinners have suffered in general because Sourav and Sachin played left-arm spin well and others in the team could do so.”

Probably, the thinking may undergo a change with two left-arm spinners — national selector Venkatapathy Raju and cricket manager Ravi Shastri — in the scheme of selection things.

And, maybe, they will be able to impress upon the need to break the jinx with the team for the Bangladesh tour to be picked on April 20.