It happened on the last day of the Kotla Test against Zimbabwe. It was oh-so-brief but equally telling. Sachin Tendulkar, the best batsman of his generation, up against left-arm spinner Ray Price. Unequal contest, one would have thought; Price would be hit all over the ground. Instead, there was this amazing, unbelievable sequence — lasting three overs or so — when Tendulkar actually tried to avoid facing Price, letting comparative rookie S S Das handle the left-arm spin as if it was Marshall in his pomp.

Those 10-odd minutes told a sad story. Tendulkar’s inability to handle left-arm spin was a direct result of Indian cricket putting that particular weapon — once its hallmark, and the reason for many famous wins — on the shelf. Off-spin, leg-spin, any kind of seam or pace bowling will do, but left-arm spin seems to be out of the loop.
One more flashback, to the early-90s when Abdul Qadir, who had mesmerised batsmen the world over with his googlies, was on the wane. But Pakistan had no reason to worry; coming through the door was Mushtaq Ahmed — more than a protege, he even modelled his bowling action on Qadir’s.

An Indian player asked the then Pakistan captain Imran Khan to unravel the mystery. “How come,” he asked Imran in amazement, “you have so many good leg-spinners lined up to play for Pakistan?”
Imran paused, then set up a counter: “You tell me, how do the Indians always keep producing quality left-arm spinners? I think it’s a part of our (India-Pakistan) cricket culture and tradition, having more to do with lineage than anything else. Our youngsters have the Qadirs, the Intikhab Alams, the Mushtaq Mohammads for inspiration and yours will idolise the Bedis, Mankads, Bapu Nadkarnis. Simple.”

Today, the lineage that Imran referred to seems to have been lapped up by teams other than India: New Zealand have Daniel Vettori, England have Ashley Giles (for more on him, ask Tendulkar), South Africa have Nicky Boje, even Zimbabwe have a Raymond Price but India have no one.

The effect of this on India’s batsmen was seen at Kotla; lack of practice against quality left-arm spin makes even the best batsmen vulnerable in actual play. And, of course, the absence of a left-arm spinner upsets the balance of a side, especially an Indian side.

‘‘There cannot be a bowling line-up without a left-arm spinner in it’’, says Bishan Singh Bedi, one of the best practitioners of the art in his playing days. ‘‘A good left-arm spinner will be equally useful on away pitches as much as at home. He doesn’t necessarily have to be a big turner of the ball — even his arm ball can get him wickets as it drifts into the right-handed batsman in the air. Also, it’s more difficult for batsmen to spot a left-armer’s arm-ball than a leggie’s googly.’’

In his book Idols, Sunil Gavaskar — who was dismissed 12 times in Tests by English left-armer Derek ‘Deadly’ Underwood — wrote that he didn’t quite always relish the prospects of facing a left-arm spinner. That’s a massive understatement from a near-complete batsman.

Dilip Vengsarkar agrees. ‘‘A good left-arm spinner is always difficult to face up to. At times, I have felt uncomfortable against left-arm spinners...Spin has been India’s greatest strength and will always be. What we need are changes in our structure to encourage spinners.’’

So is the problem a lack of talent? Bedi, who took 266 Test wickets in his day, says there’s no dearth of talent. It’s the system that’s at fault, he says; it just doesn’t inspire the confidence left-armers need. Witness how the potential of Sunil Joshi and Murali Karthik has been wasted. ‘‘It’s a shame that the Indian captain doesn’t have faith in them. Saurav Ganguly is not a bowler’s captain. I believe he reasons left-arm spinners can’t bowl to left-handed batsmen so he keeps such spinners away from the side. Tell me, didn’t Bedi ever bowl to Gary Sobers, or Clive Lloyd? This is one of the most ridiculous cricketing theories I’ve ever heard.’’

Joshi and Karthik are good examples to talk about in this case. Joshi is still around but doesn’t make even the South Zone Duleep Trophy side while Karthik has been performing on the domestic circuit — most notably, in the Ranji Trophy final where he took eight wickets for Railways.

Over the past few years, the selectors and team management have been tossing around left-arm spinners like a football, apparently more intent on not letting them find their bearings. The Australian series last year saw three different left-armers — Venkatapathy Raju, Nilesh Kulkarni and Rahul Sanghvi — don India colours in three Tests. Joshi and Karthik played in the preceding two-test series against Zimbabwe, making it five left-armers in five Tests.

‘‘That’s the problem’’, says cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who has observed the Indian team at close quarters over the past decade or so.

‘‘Spinners need responsive captains and selectors by their side. Ravi Shastri responded so well to Sunil Gavaskar early on his career while Dilip Doshi slid on a downward spiral when he sensed the captain no longer had faith in him’’, Bhogle says.

This, many say, reflects in their bowling styles too. If Price and Vettori bowl a more attacking line — middle-leg — to tempt the batsman to play against the turn, the Indian left-armer concentrates on off and outside-off stump line.

‘‘They know if they concede a boundary or two in an over, they will be taken off. How can you expect a spinner to do a good job when he doesn’t know how long his spell will be?’’ asks Bedi. ‘‘We are just letting the treasured art die.’’

What Bedi means is that a left-arm spinner needs long spells to settle down and find his rhythm. That could be a luxury in today’s arena, where run rates are climbing and the overall game has speeded up. In India, the answer is simply, don’t take risks. In a Test against Zimbabwe at Delhi in 2000, Karthik bowled 24 overs in an innings in six different spells. He has not played for India since.

‘‘When I first saw Kartik, I thought he could be the left-arm-version of Harbhajan. He looked aggressive and could have been asked to work on his talent,” goes Bhogle. ‘‘But where is he now?’’

Joshi’s has been a sorry tale. When he first played for India about six years ago, his flight and loop were among the best in business.

Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell was so impressed, he went on to hail him as the ‘‘next Bishan Bedi’’. In and out of the Indian team, Joshi’s confidence waned but one day, he took 5 for six in 10 overs against South Africa in a one-dayer at Nairobi — Wisden rates it as the seventh-best ODI spell ever.

When India were to play the same side at the same venue a year later in the ICC Knockout Cup final, Joshi’s job was carrying the drinks out. A short while later, he lost even that.

Maybe Ray Price could be the spark for his — or Karthik’s — return. Shall we keep our fingers crossed?