Restoration of the beleaguered art of leg spin

Leg-spinners pose problems much like love,
Requiring commitment, the taking of a chance.
Half-way deludes; the bold advance.
Right back, there’s time to watch Developments, though perhaps too late.
It’s not spectacular, but can conciliate.
Instinctively romantics move towards,
Preventing complexities by their embrace,
Batsman and lover embarked as overlords.

Like Barcelona’s mesmerising brand of football under Pep Guardiola or Roger Federer’s serene cross court backhands, the sight of a leg spinner in full flight and deceiving batsmen at his will can be equally pleasing to the fan’s eye. The aforementioned Alan Ross-poem inspired Richie Benaud’s style of bowling bears ample testimony to the same.

Excitement and the art of leg-spin bowling go hand in hand. The introduction of a leggie into the attack often means more than just a bowling change. Everyone in the arena catches their breath and sits up to see what might unfold. Even the batsman, upon being bettered, produce a glance of sheer admiration in awe of the dismissal.

Although with the continuously evolving dynamics of the game, there will exist times of derision. The likes of Piyush Chawla have been on the receiving end over the years. But the flip side is that the triumphs have a unique beauty, the chains upon which will never pulled back even in the claustrophobic framework of the skewed format.

With 3 leg spinners in the top 10 wicket takers for the World T20 so far, the realm of these players led by Amit Mishra has demonstrated over the past fortnight that wrist spin has stood the test of time. Badree’s phenomenal average and Imran Tahir’s immaculate strike rates have defied many.

Marlon Samuels left bamboozled by Amit Mishra’s classic leg break.

Mishra is the more conventional of the lot. He bowls slower through the air and relies on beating the batsmen by flighting the ball. Wickets of Amjad Shehzad, Marlon Samuels and Nasir Hossain have been precise substantiations of the classic leg breaks that would have made Shane Warne proud – the ball dipping and then spinning away from the right handers, and Dhoni breaking the stumps in a flash.

He had a plan, speaking about which Mishra said, “MS told me to not think too much and just focus on spinning the ball. My strength is to spin the ball and I beat the batsman by giving flight. In the short format, you cannot stop the runs. You have to go for wickets.”

Imran Tahir is quicker than Mishra. Thus possibilities of an easy put-away arrive every over. But his brew of leg-breaks and googlies can be uncanny for batsmen to fathom, especially if the latter premeditates.

Imran Tahir’s heroics rescued South Africa from a shock defeat against Netherlands.

During the Dutch encounter that the Proteas almost managed to lose, Tahir was instrumental in pulling the strings in the middle overs. Though he was later modest in his post match interaction. “We believed that we could have won this game but it wasn’t an easy one. I just tried to bowl wicket to wicket”, he said.

Trinidadian Samuel Badree is the most eccentric of the triad. Not an extravagant turner of the ball, he banks on his multitude of googlies and sliders. He trades the beauty of his vocation for heightened effect. For slow bowlers on the wrong side of 30, the shortest format of the game has become a means of solace.

Samuel Badree

He enjoys the challenge that ensues in these matches. “It’s always difficult to bowl in the Powerplay overs, new ball coming on to the bat, the batsmen are looking to capitalise. I think I have been consistent in terms of line and length, I bowl to my field, things are just working out fine for me, I guess I’m a bit lucky as well”, he annotates his mantra.

The three leggies have yet again countered the norm that had floated at the inception of T20 cricket by proving that spinners are more than just a flimsy utility. The competition is entering its knock out stages and one won’t be surprised if these men play instrumental roles in defining the scripts.

Had Alan Ross been alive, he would definitely have relished the gorgeous looking display that the world has witnessed from these spin wizards.