Ganguly wants 'good pitches' for all-round development of India spinners

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has called for "good pitches" in the series against England, pitches that won't turn on the first two days, to allow India to develop into a competitive all-conditions bowling side, especially their spinners. Ganguly, who will be part of ESPNcricinfo Match Day, the analysis show that will be aired on ESPNcricinfo and on the SONY ESPN channel on every match day of the five-Test series, said R Ashwin was a "top-class" bowler and that India were "unbeatable" at home, but also said he would only judge the captain, coach and star bowlers based on the next cycle of overseas performances.

"I think the wickets are going to be good," Ganguly said of the upcoming five-Test series against England. "And India should be playing on good pitches. I firmly believe they will continue to be unbeatable at home. But if you want to be a good bowling unit overseas, where your spinners come into play and win you Test matches, Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja will have to learn bowling on good first-day, second-day pitches, where there is no turn, where you have got to bowl the right line and right length. And on day four, day five, the game will change very quickly in these conditions."

One of the favourite bowlers of Ganguly the captain, Harbhajan Singh, had recently created a stir about the pitches India have been playing on since last season, saying his and Anil Kumble's record would have been something else if they had played on such pitches. Knowing this criticism had come from an insider, the current captain Virat Kohli, who has been snapping at anybody who as much as utters the word "pitch", had to bite his tongue. Ganguly asked Harbhajan to move on, but he could also see where Harbhajan was coming from.

"He has got to take it easy, I think, Bhajji," Ganguly said. "He has been a champion for India. He has just got to move ahead. I know some of the pitches are square turners. That's not Ashwin's fault, though. He has probably got those pitches to bowl on, and he has bowled on them. I think Harbhajan is a great bowler, a great servant for Indian cricket, and he should enjoy the cricket and leave it at that. I know some of the pitches - against South Africa he would probably have got 40 wickets in that series - but even if he didn't get those pitches in his career it doesn't make him a lesser bowler than anybody."

On the whole, Ganguly saw improvement in Ashwin's last series outside Asia, and expected more of the same. "There was never a doubt about him as a bowler in these conditions," Ganguly said. "If you look at his record in the first 12-13 Test matches in the subcontinent, he has got 100 wickets. There is always a question mark on how he bowled in England and Australia and South Africa. And there's definitely an improvement on that. He has definitely got better in those conditions.

"He has continued to thrive on these turning pitches. I don't think it is that difficult bowling on these turning pitches. You see Jadeja, his record home and away is like chalk and cheese. Ashwin will be very, very dangerous in this squad. Jadeja as well. Pitches turning. Fast. Hitting the rough and turning it away. He will be very, very hard to get away. So England will have to bat very well in the first innings. Toss will be crucial. They will be looking to win the toss and bat first. Lots of things will affect how this series goes but Ashwin is going to be a huge threat."

As part of the BCCI's cricket advisory committee, Ganguly was instrumental in the appointment of Kumble as India coach, and he is a fan of Kohli: "I sit on my sofa and switch on my TV to watch Virat Kohli." While he is impressed with Kumble and Kohli's partnership so far, he is not getting carried away yet. "He [Kumble] has been brilliant but he has played a lot of Test matches at home," Ganguly said. "And he is going to play about nine Test matches at home in the next six months, so I maintain as I maintained with other coaches that India will continue to beat teams in these conditions. But just like everyone, just like I asked of MS Dhoni whether he had the ability to win Test matches overseas, the same question remains for Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble.

"Whether they can get together and get India going in overseas conditions. Because that is what is going to happen after these nine Test matches. We are going to go away to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. And they will be tested. So for them and for me the real judgement will come once they complete that full circle. At the present moment, I don't think they have been tested yet."

Ganguly doesn't expect England to test India too much either, because, according to him, England are a depleted side from the one that beat India in India in 2012-13, and also because India are on a roll and high on confidence while the opposite was true of the side that lost in 2012-13. Ganguly expects India to continue playing just the two spinners, but if left to him he would add Amit Mishra to the successful pairing of Ashwin and Jadeja.

"If I go by the New Zealand Test series, I think he [Kumble] is happy with four bowlers," Ganguly said. "He knows in these conditions the spinners are capable of picking up 20 wickets, when the ball turns square. I just get a feeling that he will go in with four bowlers. And that will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. If he goes in with three spinners at some stage - and that will only happen if he is under pressure, if he hasn't won the first Test in Rajkot, or of the wicket is Vizag is a minefield as we saw in the one-day game [against New Zealand] - maybe then he could come and have a third spinner.

"Him going with three spinners [at the outset], I am not too sure. Because he will wait for the ball to reverse. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have been brilliant at that. Ishant Sharma is back, so he will probably get a go ahead of Umesh Yadav. So I see him going with Ishant and Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin."