Leg-spinners are unpredictable. But they are also more efficient for their unpredictability. Especially in the limited-overs format, and more so in T20Is. You cannot keep leg-spinners away from T20Is, and some of the records in this format are held by bowlers of this ilk.
Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan is the third highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 118 wickets and New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi is fifth (103). These two leg-spinners are among only five bowlers to take 100 or more wickets in the shortest format in international cricket.
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And, when you take the top 10 wicket-takers, half of them are leg-spinners, the right-arm bowlers who turn the ball away from right handers and who fox the batsmen with their googlies.
Pakistan’s retired Shahid Afridi (98), England’s Adil Rashid (89) and Pakistan’s Shadab Khan (87) are the other leg-spinners who are in the top-10 bracket at sixth, ninth and tenth positions, respectively.
The four in action
Among these, four will be in action in the current ICC Men's T20 World Cup – Rashid Khan, Sodhi, Adil Rashid and Shadab.
Wrist spinners hold the top three positions for the most wickets taken in a calendar year – Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane (38 in 2022), Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga (36 in 2021) and Tabraiz Shamsi (left-arm wrist spinner from South Africa, 36 in 2021).
Among leg-spinners, Rashid Khan is second in the list of bowlers who have the most wickets through bowled (40); Sodhi is second in the list of bowlers who have most wickets through caught (73) while Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal of India are joint fourth for having most batsmen stumped (11).
Besides, leg-spinners are among the fastest to 50 T20 wickets – retired South African Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan and Hasaranga occupy the fourth, fifth and sixth slots, respectively.
And, two leg-spinners occupy the first and third positions for the fastest to 100 T20I wickets – Rashid Khan (first place, 53 matches) and Sodhi (third place, 78 matches).
The part-timers
Overall, there are 24 players from the 16 participating countries that are of this variety in the ongoing T20 World Cup, though the likes of Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka and the Australian duo of Steve Smith and David Warner are primarily batsmen who also bowl leg-spin.
These two dozen leg-spinners also include England’s Liam Livingstone and the UAE’s Chirag Suri, who both bowl off-breaks and leg-breaks depending on the situation.
We have seen Livingstone mix his variety during Indian Premier League 2022 for Punjab Kings, bowling leg-spin to right-handers and off-spin to left-handers with the aim of taking the edge as they go for big shots.
Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan told moneycontrol.com ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World currently under way in Australia with the first round of matches that Australia’s Adam Zampa and Pakistan’s Shadab will have a greater impact among leg-spinners in the World Cup.
Weather, size of the ground
Sivaramakrishnan, who himself played a huge role in India’s famous triumph in the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985 by picking up 10 wickets in five ODIs, told this website from Perth, where he is vacationing, that weather and the size of the grounds also matter for the leg-spinners to be successful as also the type of fast bowlers the teams have.
“The smallest ground in Australia is in Adelaide, smaller on the sides. Whether the ICC would want to keep equal boundaries or change the dimensions from ground to ground remains to be seen.
It may be unfair to teams to play on grounds with different dimensions. How much they bring the boundaries in to keep it uniform at 65m-70m is also to be seen,” the 56-year-old leg-spinner-turned-television commentator said.
“The fact that Australia is coming off winter and it is spring now, how much the bowlers get acclimatised to the weather is also crucial. The likes of Zampa and Sodhi, who are used to the Australian conditions, are better placed than the leg-spinners from Asia. Gripping of the ball will be different,” Sivaramakrishnan, who picked up 11 out of his 16 ODI wickets on Australian soil, said.
Bowler’s mindset
“Basically, it is the mindset of the leg-spinners. Whether the captain wants to bowl his leg-spinners tight or if he wants them to take wickets. It also depends on the new ball bowlers, if they have given too many runs in the Power Play or not. Leg-spinners from any country will bowl for wickets.
Captains like New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Australia’s Aaron Finch would encourage their spinners Sodhi and Zampa, respectively, to go for wickets at any stage,” he added.
India’s Yuzvendra Chahal may not find the going to his liking. Chahal, who is India’s joint highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 85 along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, though they have come in 10 fewer matches, has the experience of playing in Australia before.
He played in three T20Is and picked up four wickets on the 2020-21 tour, two of them at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where India play the runner-up of Group A on October 27.
Sivaramakrishnan said: “How Chahal will be able to bowl and get wickets in the cold conditions will be crucial. It will be difficult to grip the ball and also depends on the size of the ground. Having said that, no matter how difficult the weather is, you will have to get the ball to turn. There will be dampness on the pitch because of the weather.”
Sivaramakrishnan added that it was important how the leg-spinners bowled with a change of pace without changing the trajectory. “People tend to assume that a flatter trajectory means bowling quicker. It is not necessarily so.
Even when you bowl with a flatter trajectory, it is the path the ball takes. Shorter leg-spinners can do this better –bowl slower with a flatter trajectory. Zampa is a good example of one who bowls a flatter trajectory at a different pace and keeps varying the lines. It should not be predictably one line, like Adil Rashid of England, who bowls all his leg-breaks on the stumps and the googly from outside the stumps.”
Role of the fast bowlers
Speaking of the help the leg-spinners get from the new ball bowlers up front, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, who has the record for most wickets taken in a T20 World Cup – 16 in 2021 – may find it tough because of the quality and inexperience of his fast bowlers.
“Hasaranga may find it difficult because of his fast bowlers. And, he becomes a defensive bowler. From an attacking option to being defensive, the role play changes. The whole approach to the game changes.
I feel Shadab and Zampa are the two picks for me in this World Cup because of the quality of fast bowlers in their sides. New Zealand have a decent pace attack in the form of Tim Southee and Trent Bout to set it up for Sodhi, who is also quite adept at playing in these conditions.
“Shadab is fairly decent from what I have seen. He is a more conventional leg-spinner than Chahal or Zampa. Aussies will have a terrific bowling line-up, so Zampa is well set. India, without Jasprit Bumrah, has got Mohammed Shami as his replacement. Shami in good rhythm is India’s best fast bowler.”
Sivaramakrishnan felt that from among the other leg-spinners, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan is the one who most people would look to play out his four overs.
“Rashid Khan has a lot of experience playing in Australia in the form of Big Bash League. If there is some decent quality leg-spinner in the bowling ranks, the batting side looks to play him off and try to score against the other bowlers.
The leg-spinners will have ups and downs. A few may bowl different lengths in Australia because of the extra bounce as even a good length ball can be cut and pulled through the extra bounce,” Sivaramakrishnan said.
While a side may be packed with medium-pacers, off-spinners and left-arm spinners, the leg-spinning tribe cannot be ignored.
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