Expressing doubts over the ability of an injury-depleted Indian bowling attack to succeed in Pakistan, spin legend E A S Prasanna on Friday said the visitors could win the Test series if the bowling performance could complement the team's strong batting line-up.
"We definitely have a stronger batting line up than the Pakistanis. But to win you also need to take 20 wickets.. and there I have some doubts as most of the bowlers are carrying injuries," the off-spinner, who formed a part of the revered Indian spin quartet in the 1960s and 1970s, said.
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The Indians are hampered by injuries to their bowlers with three experienced seamers - Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra - yet to submit their fitness certificates to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), off-spinner Harbhajan Singh ruled out with a finger injury and veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble still being a doubtful starter.
"In the fast bowling arena, now India will have to depend a lot on the youngsters Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji. But I think we are worse of in spin, where Anil (Kumble) is still doubtful and the selectors have to find a replacement for Harbhajan," the off-spinner, who has now settled in Kolkata.
"I don't know, to what extent the young and inexperienced spinners can fill up the slot made vacant by Harbhajan," said Prasanna, who picked up a rich haul of 189 wickets in 49 Tests at an average of 30.38.
Prasanna also felt that wickets in Pakistan were generally placid, and the bowlers needed to put in that "extra something" to succeed.
"Our bowlers will have to take wickets regularly, and not allow partnerships to blossom on these docile tracks," he said.
However, Prasanna praised India's batting talent, saying "our batting has tremendous depth. One to one, our willowers are far superior to the Pakistanis. The strong showing in Australia has increased the morale of the players, particularly that of the batsmen."
The offie said the series would be highly competitive, but disagreed with the view that the matches would boil down to battles between the Indian batting and the Pakistan bowling.
"I don't think so. Because the Pakistani pace battery now lacks the firepower of the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis," he said.
Prasanna, a key member of the Bishan Singh Bedi led team that visited Pakistan in 1978 in another revival tour which came after an 18 year stoppage in bilateral cricketing relations between the two neighbours, felt that "diplomatic pressures" had weighed down the Indians who lost the three-Test series 0-2.
"Before leaving for Pakistan we were all briefed about the importance of the tour in terms of improving bilateral relations. We were brainwashed to such an extent that we never had a feeling that it was a normal cricketing tour," Prasanna said.
The former Karnataka player, however, was confident that this would not be the case with the current Indian side, who are undertaking another ice-breaking tour to Pakistan after a 15-year gap.
"Present day cricket is different. The players now are more strong mentally. So, I think such off-field things will not affect their performances.
"In 1978, both sides were evenly balanced. We were unlucky to lose the third Test in Karachi in the last edition when their batsmen went all guns blazing to snatch an improbable victory."
The offie, however, admitted that one of the cause for the Indian debacle then was the failure of the bowlers to perform to their potential.
Infact, such was the battering received by the Indian spinners, that the series virtually signalled the end of the career for three of the legendary quartet - Prasanna, Bedi and B S Chandrashekhar.
However, Prasanna had no doubts that the former Pakistan side was vastly superior than the present bunch.
"Though its wrong to compare sides of two different era, I have no hesitation in saying that the team we played against was far better.
"Pakistan then had batsmen like Zaheer Abbas, who was in brilliant form, and the upcoming Javed Miandad. Then there was the talented opening bat Majid Khan and the dashing Asif Iqbal," he said.
The pace department was handled by legends like Imran Khan, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Sikandar Bakht, and the side had a very good leader in Mushtaq Mohammed, along with the wicket-keeping genius Wasim Bari, Prasanna said.
"Can the present Pakistan team stand up to the sheer weight of these players? I tell you, there can be no comparison."
Asked about his off-field experiences during the trip, Prasanna recalled that the players of the two sides had very good relationships.
"Bedi and Mushtaq were then playing County cricket. So we used to call them County comrades," he said smilingly.
Prasanna also remembered that the Indian manager Fatehsinhrao Gaekwad had lot of loyalists in Pakistan.
"He was a former Maharaja. Wherever we went, people would come forward and pay their respect to him saying that they had worked in his estate in the past," he added.