India's spin crisis waiting to explode?

New Delhi: The Indian team seems to have most bases covered: a strong batting line-up, fast bowling options, the perfect captain. But scratch the surface and there is a crisis waiting to unfold - the lack of quality spin bowlers, pointed out now by a man on the inside - VVS Laxman.

The wizards from an era which is romaticised to this day, Bishan Bedi, Prasanna, Chendrasekhar and Venkataraghavan represented the golden age of Indian spin.

They were preceded by the mystical leg-spinning genius of Subhash Gupte and followed by the precise mastery of Anil Kumble.

But somehow, while these men bask in the glory of their ascent to the summit of the world game, the spin bowling cupboard seems frighteningly bare.

One of their own, Laxman had said: "The Indian cricket team is struggling to find some quality spinners, apart from the guys who are playing. You will find that there is no bench strength as far as spinners are concerned. So definitely the quality of domestic cricket has come down in terms of the bowling department. I think the quality of bowlers, especially the spinners will definitely be a worrying factor for the Indian team."

Since Kumble's exit from the scene, the burden of spinning India to wins has fallen on the shoulders of Harbhajan Singh. For company he has Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha, but with both still establishing a track record, Harbhajan knows he has huge shoes to fill.

One glance at the domestic circuit and Laxman's concerns stare you in the face. Last season the leading wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy cricket was Mumbai left-armer Iqbal Abdulla. Piyush Chawla takes wickets but seems to have vanished from the minds of the selectors. Ravindra Jadeja appears better suited to one-day cricket.

But despite the lack of choice, the chairman of selectors isn't too worried.

"I am very confident about our spin resources. We have a lot of bench strength in every department and I don't think there is a cause to worry," Srikkanth told CNN-IBN.

Clearly, India's cricket bosses need to find ways of urgently unearthing spin bowling talent, or a cherished legacy will be lost.