NEW DELHI, April 18: Thanks to surfeit of limited-overs cricket, quality spinners are a fast diminishing tribe in India, fears Test captain Anil Kumble.

The veteran leg-spinner believes the 50-overs-a-side format, which dominates international calendar, does not allow a spinner to develop his game like matches of longer duration would do.

“I think it’s all because of one-day cricket. It’s hard to get spinners of that quality because you don’t play that many three-day or four-day games,” Kumble said.

“You need to develop your game. You are only bowling ten or eight overs or less in shortened game, so development of a spinner is tough.”

Speaking from experience, he added: “I played a lot of three-day and four-day cricket, and you learn by bowling 30 overs. You try and learn while bowling those spells.

“That’s the reason I have actually enjoyed bowling even when there is nothing in match. “Just bowling a spell where I start learning about my game. It’s about saying, ‘what are things that I can do if I come across this situation again?’ so that’s learning process. That probably doesn’t happen these days for younger lot,” he said.

Kumble added India needed to produce more turning tracks, which would have some bounce as well.

“We’ll have to prepare wickets for spinners. The emphasis now is definitely on fast bowlers, but we need to create turning wickets.

“If the first ball of a Test match seams and swings, then it is a good wicket. What’s wrong if the first ball spins?” he asked.—Agencies