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In 1966 the Indian cricket team faced the West Indies in the test match at Chennai. It was the last day and the spinners Prasanna and Bedi were operating. All that remained between the West Indies and defeat was Garfield Sobers. The ball was turning and the two spinners had the West Indies on the mat. Bu then as is the bane of Indian cricket a dropped catch did the trick for the West Indies and they scampered to a draw.

This test is important as it marked the start of one of the golden periods of Indian cricket. This was the period when Prasanna and Bedi along with Chndershekhar made history by ushering in an era which is now regarded as the golden age of spin bowling. There was also a fourth member of this team -Venkatraghavan and he also played his part in this era.

All the spinners had their own styles. Prasanna was a spinner in the classical mould.He bowled off spin and more often than not he beat the batsman with his flight. On the 1967 tour of Australia the Australian batsmen could not read him fully and he scalped 25 wickets. Ian Chappell rated him the world’s best off spinner.

Bishen Singh Bedi was a slow left hand leg spinner. He complimented Prasanna and is often compared to the great Verity. Bedi tossed the ball up to the batsman and you had to have exceptional foot work to negotiate him. The ball with which he bowled Simpson one of the best players of spin bowling in a test in Australia is a stand out. Bedi took over 260 test wickets and during his heyday was rated as the best spinner in the world. He had a slow classical action and unlike Murlidharan who almost throws the ball Bedi earned his wickets the classical way.

The third spinner of this period was Chandrasekhar. He was a freak bowler who on his day was just unplayable. His 6 for 38 in the oval test in 1971 is remembered as the greatest bowling performance by an Indian in the last century. It was India first test win in England. Chandra bowled almost at medium pace and opposing batsmen had difficulty in negotiating his bounce. Peter Burge the Australian batsman was bowled by Chandra with a ball he never saw the moment it left his hand.

The fourth spinner who was part of the quartet was Venkat Raghavan. He was a good utility bowler and very economical. He stepped in as a substitute if one of the 3 spinner’s did not play.

The cricket world used to the dominance of fast bowlers was taken aback at the success of the spinners. During the 1971 West Indies tour people were astonished to see Bedi and company holding batsmen of the likes of Kanhai and Lloyd by the leash. It was a sight to behold. India won the series.

It must be remembered that during this period India had no fast bowlers and thus from the word go it was Bedi and Prasanna aided by Chandrasekhar who had to deliver the goods irrespective of the wickets. This they did admirably. But now almost four decades later we can look back to this period as the golden age of spin bowling. I do not think it will be replicated again-at least for a long time.

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Source by Madan G Singh