By Matt Majendie

India are targeting more spinners of Harbhajan's class

India's overall bowling style is barely recognisable from the essence that graced world cricket in the Sixties and Seventies.

Then, the country enjoyed a golden era of spin bowling, courtesy of the likes of Bishan Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.

Three decades on, India's attacking is increasingly dominated by pace - through stalwart Javagal Srinath and the new blood of Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan.

While cricket authorities on the sub-continent are relishing the fact that the country is enjoying a wealth of fast bowling talent, there are some worried faces - not least of all Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket.

This week Dalmiya complained spin bowling was becoming a "decaying art" in India.

And, in a bid to meet the problem, he has launched an 11-man committee of former spinners turned spin doctors to tackle the issue.

A similar project was unveiled in the 1990s to tackle the dearth of pace bowling, including clinics from former Aussie Test bowler Dennis Lillee, and the results are just beginning to be felt.

Farokh Engineer, India's wicket-keeper to the spinners of India's golden era, is confident of even greater results with the spin overhaul.

"Bowling always goes in cycles and, as such, I believe India will soon be enjoying a second golden era of spin bowling," he told the BBC Sport website.

"Lillee, among others, worked wonders for our young fast bowlers. And, with the likes of Bedi and Prasanna shaping our future spinners, the results could arguably be greater still."

At present India has only two spinners who have made an impact on the world stage in recent years.

Anil Kumble, now in the twilight of his career, has taken 349 Test wickets, while Harbhajan Singh, with 144 Test victims before his 23rd birthday, is billed by Engineer as the "world's greatest off-spinner.

But a host of barely recognisable names have tried and, on the whole, failed to act as back-up.

Sunil Joshi, Sarandeep Singh and Murali Kartik have all been called upon but have struggled to keep their averages under 35 and their strike rate per wicket below 90 balls.

But Engineer is not fazed by the lack of world-class spinning depth.

He added: "I was wondering at the World Cup where all India's spinners had gone, especially in a country so conducive to spin bowling.

"But this has got to help especially when trying to find a leg spinner. They're a dying breed.

"Every team needs a world-class leg spinner, which is something India severely lacks. And I think this is very much in Dalmiya's mind when coming up with this proposal.

"With a population the size of India's and a endless queue of people willing to play cricket, we'll find one."

Dalmiya's new spin committee, which was launched this week, also includes Kumble.

But Engineer believes Indian cricket chiefs have made one major omission in their efforts.

He said: "It's beyond me why they've not called upon Harbhajan, especially when you see what he's done so far in Test cricket.

"That said, they're taking the right road to reliving the spin glory days."