Vengsarkar worried over successors of Kumble, Harbhajan

New Delhi, Feb 1 (UNI) Selection Committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar is worried of the long term consequences of the drought in a new generation of quality spin bowlers in the country to replace Anil Kumble and Co once they hang their boots from international cricket.

The former captain feels that the production line of outstanding spin bowlers which has sustained Indian cricket for more than 60 years is in danger of drying up with no long term successor in sight for the ''irreplaceable'' Kumble.

''We are obviously worried that apart from Harbhajan and Powar, we don't have anybody ready for international cricket. Now nobody knows where the talent is,'' the 'Colonel' toldthe February issue of Cricinfo magazine.

He said not only was the pool of talent depressingly small, it's being further eroded by young spinners emerging with flawed bowling actions.

Vengsarkar said he was not happy with the National Cricket Academy's (NCA) spin wing nor with the MAC Spin Academy in this regard.

''The actions of the bowlers at the junior level need to be sorted out. When I was the TRDO, I had pointed out a few suspect actions, but nothing was done about it. As a result they continued playing until they were reported at big events such as the Under-19 World Cup.'' A few youngsters had suffered due to the calousness of the authorities.

Younsters like Gujarat's Mohnish Parmar did not know he was doing something wrong until he was reported at the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka and sent for rehabilitation at the age of 18.

Punjab's Rajesh Sharma and Madhya Pradesh offspinner Amal Kokje were barred from playing because of suspect action.

Narendra Hirwani, who retired from first-class cricket last season, also expressed concern over the lack of new generation quality slow bowlers from the land famous for its spin wizards.

''We always tend to neglect what we have in abundance; we run after other things. We have been concentrating on fast bowlers and now we are getting good fast bowlers, but we haven't focused enough on the spinners,'' he said.

Hirwani wants appointment of a specialist spin bowling coach in all teams.

''To encourage spinners, every team should have a bowling coach.

If you have specialist fast-bowling coaches and fielding coaches, why not have a spin coach, especially considering that India are losing out on spin resources?,'' he asked.

The bespectackled leg spinner from Madhya Pradesh also offered a remedy to stop young spinners from throwing early in their career.

''Another thing I would want implemented is to have 21-yard wickets at under-13 level, and not the normal 22-yard ones. The 12-year olds do not have the strength to get the ball across the length of a normal wicket, which makes them want to chuck it. That way, we lose half the bowlers even before we see them.'' UNI