Recently, there was a news item that rocked the Indian cricket world: Maninder Singh caught with cocaine in his house. Singh, in my opinion, is the most talented left-arm spinner to have played for India since Bishen Bedi, and it prompted me to look back on some of the others:

Dilip Doshi: He was one of the mainstays of India's spin attack after the decline of the Great Four (Bedi, Chandra, Pras, Venkat). He took 114 wickets in 33 Tests and had six five-wicket hauls (one of which was in the memorable first Test of the Sri Lankans). He was not much of a batsman and when Doshi came to the crease, it was a signal to the opposition that there was a easy wicket to be had. He faded away, though he could have played for a much longer time. He was probably the only Indian spinner who made his Test debut  after he was 30. He is currently based in England, where his son plays for country cricket for Surrey.

Ravi Shastri: Though he played more as an opening batsman later in his career, Shastri took five wickets in an ODI against Australia on the traditionally-fast Perth wicket.  Kapil, Prabhakar and Srinath had managed to restrict Australia to 68 for five when Shastri came into bowl on the fast bowler-friendly WACA pitch. He took the next five wickets to ensure that Australia was all out for 101. This was mainly due to the hara-kiri attitude by the Aussies, who tried to hit their way to success and holed out to Shastri's gentle bowling.

The 1985 World Championship was another tournament where Shastri played havoc with his all-round performance, being named the 'Champion of Champions'. His batting (opening with Krish Srikkanth) and left-arm spin bowling was one of the major strengths of the Indian team. He is also well known for his six sixes in one over in a Ranji match off the bowling of Tilak Raj - equalling Garfield Sobers' record against Malcolm Nash. Overall, he was one of India's successful opening batsmen after Sunil Gavaskar retired. But in ODIs later in his career, he contributed in the lower order with vital scores.

Maninder Singh: As mentioned earlier, easily the most talented but somehow again didn't live up to the initial hype. The match where he really shone was against Pakistan at Bangalore, when he took seven wickets in the first innings to skittle out the opposition for a paltry score (Gavaskar played a wonderful second-innings knock in his last Test match). Unfortunately, India lost both the match and the series - their last home series defeat  for a long time until Hansie Cronje's South Africans defeated them. Maninder went on to become a commentator and an umpire. Well known for his part in the tied Test match against Australia in 1986 when, with India requiring one run to win off three balls, he was dismissed lbw by Greg Matthews. In another great 1987 World Cup ODI match against Australia at the same Chennai stadium, India required four to win with two balls to go. Maninder, on strike, tried to hit Steve Waugh out of the ground and was bowled.

Venkatapathi Raju: There was this one Test match against Sri Lanka where Raju tormented them on a spinning track. India won by an innings despite scoring only 288. He was one of the bowlers who, with Anil Kumble, helped India win all those matches against England and Zimbabwe at home. This was the time when Mohammed Azharuddin was captain and there were three spinners in the Indian team (Kumble, Raju and Chauhan). His other main strength was to offer lower-order resistance even while injured. His last Test was against Australia - the great VVS Test at Eden Gardens. He has now become a national selector.