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Jun 25, 2011 Sports
Feels strong wind affected Harbhajan & Mishra
It is not often that a rookie West Indian spinner out bowls his experienced Indian counterpart in a Test match, especially on a track with prodigious bounce and turn for the slow bowlers.
But that is exactly what happened this week at Sabina Park in Jamaica as Guyanese leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo continued his wonderful entry to International cricket this year with seven wickets against India in the opening Test, although some ordinary work by his team’s batsmen meant his work was in vain as India won by 63 runs with well over a day to spare.
Harbhajan Singh is one of the world best off-spinners and has been playing Test cricket since 1998 when he played the first of his 94 Tests while the 25-year-old Bishoo made his Test debut against Pakistan in Guyana last month but already had 16 wickets from four Tests.
Harbhajan managed just 1-54 from 16 overs as the West Indies were bowled out for 262 chasing 326 to win and was struck for three consecutive sixes by Darren Sammy. He got the ball to bounce and turn but struggled with his line as he finished the match still four short of 400 Test wickets after taking 2-51 from 19 in the first innings.
While the West Indies played just one spinner, India played two and leg-spinner Amit Mishra could only manage two wickets in each innings.
Bishoo, who had Sachin Tendulkar stumped when Guyana played Mumbai Indians in the Champions League in South Africa last year, ripped out big guns Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Skipper MS Dhoni in his first three overs of the match to end with 3-75 and returned in the second innings to take 4-65 from 24.5 overs to get the attention of the Indian Captain who grew up on high quality spin bowling.
Dhoni said the strong wind may have affected the performances of ace spinners Harbhajan and Mishra, and showed admiration for Bishoo who only began playing First-Class cricket in 2008 when he took over the Guyana leg-spin duties from former Test player Mahendra Nagamootoo.
“It was a bit difficult for our spinners because of the strong breeze across the field, but I think as the game progressed they adjusted to the situation and started bowling in the right areas,” Dhoni explained.
“I think Bishoo bowled really well. What’s important is that he bowled in the right areas, with the kind of turn he got, especially in the first innings,” he said
Dhoni, like the great Dravid, was dismissed by Bishoo in both innings and the ball which had the Indian Captain taken at gully for a duck in the first innings but perfectly pitched on off stump before he bounce and spun across the right-hander.
Dhoni said he was always confident of victory as West Indies had to bat last. “That 300 was quite a difficult target to chase, it was a difficult wicket where scoring runs was not easy unless you bowled really bad deliveries,” Dhoni said
“They started aggressively and that’s one of the main reasons they got off to a flyer, but we knew we had to take wickets and once we took wickets we slowed down their momentum and put some pressure on the middle-order batsmen,” the Indian Skipper added.
Bishoo, who already has 102 First Class wickets from just 24 games, is an aggressive, confident spinner who also bowls well in t20 and 50 overs cricket. Since his International debut in the World Cup, has already taken 19 scalps from 11 ODIs.
He is very fit, an excellent fielder and competent lower order left-handed batsman and with spinners playing until into their late 30s and Bishoo, who joined fellow Corentyne players Ivan Madray and Nagamootoo as the Guyanese leg-spinners to play Test cricket, is on course to challenge Courtney Walsh’s West Indian record of 519 wickets from 132 tests.
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