Harbhajan Singh was 18 when he made his senior one-day debut

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) has given its backing to a recommendation put forward by a panel of experts set up to find ways of halting a decline in spin bowling standards.

The 11-man panel includes Bishan Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna, and current leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

They are concerned that youngsters are bowling too negatively, rather than flighting the ball, and thereby giving it more chance to turn.

"The panel came to the conclusion that playing one-day cricket at the junior level harmed the development of spinners.

"That's why we have decided to stop all the one-day cricket for the under-17 age group and below," said BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

"We've accepted the spin panel's advice that one-dayers tend to push young bowlers into a defensive shell."

Feature: India in a spin

Despite the decision, India will stage next year's Under-17 Asia Cup as scheduled, but they are putting forward a proposal that future tournaments should feature two-day matches instead.

Indian cricket concentrated on alleviating a shortage of seam bowlers during the 1990s.

A number of initiatives were introduced, including the establishment of a fast bowling clinic run by Australian great Dennis Lillee in Madras.

The various schemes have born fruit with players like Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra coming to the fore.

The BCCI now wants to bring about a similar revival in spin bowling, although their concerns come at a time when off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is the fouth best bowler in Test cricket, according to the latest ranking list.