Leg spinners likely to dominate IPL this year

Leg spinners can play a special role in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE starting 19 September. Cricket experts believe that leg spinners will be able to take wickets with the economical pace on slow and dry pitches.

If the turn is difficult, or if the ball comes slowly, then the leg spinners are more successful. Scoring runs against the deliveries that turn at 20 to 40 degrees after the ball lands outside of the leg stump is not at all easy to play. The batsman is forced to play the ball defensively, or middle the ball, edge it, or even get beaten several times.

This time, the spin bowlers especially the leg spinners are desperate to show their power in the upcoming IPL. In this regard, The Daily Guardian spoke to sports journalist Manish Sharma. Accord- ing to Sharma, “There is no doubt that the spin bowler, especially the leg-spinner, will dominate the IPL tournament in Dubai for over a month. The high temperatures and the slow wickets without grass would aid the spinners to scalp the wickets. Rotating the strike against the slow bowler would be a herculean task.”

The best leg spinners are those who know how to use the googly well, facing which even good batsmen on the crease start panicking. Now, amid the era of the short- games like T-20, leg-spin bowlers have stopped using the flight loops like traditional leg-spinners, and most of today’s leg-spinners like Amit Mishra, Imran Tahir, Adam Zampa, Yazuvendra Chahal use low-trajectory, yorker length, and fast delivery. Sometimes they even resort to straighter deliveries which prove to be very effective. Even the good batsmen are unable to score freely against an effective leg-spin. Manish further added, “By the way, I think Amit Mishra will also bring the big change this time because he has all the variety as a leg-spinner along with a long experience.”

Expressing his views on bowlers in cricket, former cricketer, curator, and commentator, Venkat Sunderam said that a good bowler, regardless of the wicket, is the one who concedes less runs and takes at least three wickets per match. “Sir Gary Sobers, one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket, once told me that a good spinner does not con- cede many runs and creates pressure on the batsmen,” said Sunderam. “Good spinner scalps three to five wickets in every match he plays,” he added.

Regarding the thirteenth edition of the IPL, Sunderam said, “This will be very challenging for the grounds- men who are maintaining the pitches there. As far as leg spinners are concerned, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir, and Rashid Latif are amazing bowlers; they will surely be successful in creating history for their respective teams. However, at the same time, due to the frequent performances of fast bowlers, there will be a possibility of crushing at the place where the front foot is landed and the bowler might get injured.”

In the Australia-England ODI which was played on Sunday, the Australian team did not manage to score more than 207 runs and lost the last match by 25 runs. It is clear to say that on the pitch where the ball stops and slows down, any batsman has difficulty in making aggressive shots and the team is not able to score big. Leg-spinner is considered to be good when he tempts the batsman on googly or sometimes even on full-toss to hit the ball and ends up scalping the wicket.

The writer is Bureau Chief of Himalini Magazine, Nepal, and the founder of Creatives World Media Academy.