5 young spinners who can go on to become world beaters
Spinners have had a major role to play in modern day cricket with pitches slowing up in most of the countries. Although the sub-continent nations have predominantly supported spin over the years, the nature of the pitches in other nations have varied. A remarkable example in this regard would be the pitches in the Caribbean, which were lightning fast previously but have slowed up to the point of largely supporting the tweakers.
Of late, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have hogged most of the limelight in terms of spin bowling. Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah have had their share of glory too. But it is notable that despite the nature of the pitches, India and Pakistan do not have a whole lot of reserve spinners to boast of.
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Glancing around the globe, we find many young spinners making their mark on the international scene. Some of them have already left mouths gaping wide open with their skills. Although very few have shown as much potential as Ashwin or Yasir, some have been quite impressive in recent months.
Let us glance through a list of spinners who could go on to become world beaters in the coming decade:
#1 Lakshan Sandakan – Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka are known to extract mystery spinners from time to time. When Australia made the trip to the island nation in 2016, Lanka had a new weapon up their sleeve – Lakshan Sandakan. The wily chinaman bowler had made a mark for Colombo Cricket Club domestically and his performances earned him a spot in the test squad to face the visiting Aussies.
He operates off a shuffling action and is capable of turning the ball both ways. The young spinner topped the 2013-14 First-Class season’s wicket taker’s list with 54 scalps at 19.14. The performance earned him a spot in the ODI team to face England in 2014, but he did not get a game. In the next season, Sandakan impressed yet again with 45 wickets at 24.28.
Sandakan topped the charts yet again in the 2015-16 Premier League Tournament and the selectors picked him in Sri Lanka A team’s tour of England. He was soon called up to the Test team for the series against Australia.
In the first innings, Sandakan took his maiden Test wicket by dismissing Mitchell Marsh. He took 4/58 in the first innings and followed it up with 3/49 in the second. Sri Lanka won the Test, registering just their second win against an Australian side in 27 Test matches.