Sports News
On Planet T20, wrist spinners are the Superheroes
Once regarded as an indulgence in the shortest format, wrist spinners have started doubling up as both enforcers and defenders in the bowling attack.
Tweaking in the moolah
The gold rush period of the 2018 IPL auction outside the marquee list came on the first afternoon when it was time for the capped wrist spinners to go under the hammer. It started with Kuldeep Yadav and ended with Piyush Chawla.
Adam Zampa and Samuel Badree rather surprisingly went unsold, but none of the rest went for anything less than a crore.
Rashid Khan was the highest earner, retained by Sunrisers for Rs 9 crore. Between them, 7 wrist spinners ended up demanding Rs 35 crore. No wonder, considering how the value of wrist spinners has burgeoned beyond compare in the shortest format of the game.
The original men of mystery
Thanks to Sunil Narine, mystery spinners were in vogue till a few years ago. And the likes of KC Cariappa & Co made the most of it as their market soared. But the leg-spinners have in time reclaimed the throne as the real mystery men of world cricket. For before Narine, the carom ball and perhaps even the doosra, it was the leggies who bamboozled batsmen.
And it’s only apt that they should lay claim to being the most sought-after commodities in a format of the sport which demands trickery. Rashid Khan, 19, is arguably the most in-demand T20 cricketer in the world. He just finished topping the wicket-taking charts in the Big Bash League, will turn up for Sunrisers in the IPL, and has already been signed up by Sussex for the T20 Blast in England.
No longer an indulgence
In the past, leg-spinners were regarded as an indulgence in the shortest format. Yes, they might run through a side, but will that be worth in relation to their perceived profligacy. But all of a sudden, they’ve started doubling up as both enforcers and defenders in the bowling attack. In England last year, Mason Crane took 18 wickets at 17.33.
But what stood out was his economy rate of 6.63. Tahir was the second most successful spinner and he went at an economy under 7.5. England’s own Adil Rashid had an impressive economy of 7.1.
The bigger grounds on offer at the recently concluded Big Bash League, meant that leg-spinners weren’t just getting batsmen to hole out, they also accounted for a majority of the dot balls in the middle overs. And while Rashid had an incredible economy of 5.65, none of the key leggies went at anything over 7.2.
Wristing control
The dominance of Chahal and Kuldeep over the South Africans over the last 3 weeks is just a reflection of how wrist spinners have taken over completely in the shorter formats. Four out of the top 6 in the T20I bowlers’ rankings are leg-spinners — Rashid, Sodhi, Tahir and Badree.
