Chandan Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 One week has gone and batsmen are not finding it as easy to score as they did in India, and pace bowlers are not as effective as one had perceived them to be in South Africa. And who has come out in flying colours? It is the spinners! IPL spinners having a ball in South Africa 2:40PM Monday Apr 27, 2009 Manoj Vatsyayana Batsmen in the IPL are struggling against the likes of spinner Daniel Vettori. Twenty20 was considered a spinners' graveyard till a skilful band of slow bowlers changed it all with bewitching shows in the ongoing Indian Premier League in South Africa. Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh have proved that the shortest form of the game is not only about batsmen whacking the ball out of the park with audacious stroke-play. Batsmen have so far struggled against quality spinners on pitches offering turn and bounce, with Indian leg-spinner Kumble and his Australian counterpart Warne setting the trend on the tournament's opening day. Kumble suprised himself as much as the opposition when he grabbed 5-5 off just 3.1 overs in Bangalore Royal Challengers' win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals. "I was quite intrigued with my performance," said the 38-year-old Kumble, who quit international cricket last year with 619 Test and 337 one-day wickets. "I am coming off a long break and may be retired but the moment I'm on the field, ball in hand, the feeling is the same as always. And in any format, a five-wicket haul makes you feel you are in the thick of things." Kumble has now completed a unique Indian hat-trick - best figures in a Test innings (10-74 v Pakistan in 1999), one-day internationals (6-12 v West Indies in 1993) and a Twenty20 game. Warne retired from the game in 2007, but can still outwit batsmen with shrewd variations. He was Rajasthan Royals' best spinner against Bangalore, finishing with 2-18. "You really need to pinch yourself to believe that he (Warne) can still spin a web around the best of batsmen in the world," said Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. "He retired in 2007 and now spends more time on the poker table than on cricket pitches, but give him the ball and the magic resumes." Harbhajan was on target in the opening game itself as he took 1-15 off three tight overs in Mumbai Indians' win over Chennai. "Harbhajan's performance was the first sign that spin could be a factor in this competition," said Sri Lankan off-spinner Muralitharan, the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests (770) and one-day internationals (505). "Since then we have seen Warne rip leg-breaks like the old days, Vettori turned a game for Delhi Daredevils and I had a good night against Bangalore." Muralitharan was named man of the match for his 3-11 effort in Chennai's victory over Bangalore. "The fact that we are playing on tired squares at the end of the season may also be having an impact. Whatever the reasons, as a spinner, I'm delighted," said Muralitharan. New Zealand left-arm spinner Vettori took 3-15 off three overs to help Delhi beat Punjab in a rain-hit tie. Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has yet to establish himself at international level, but has made an impact in South Africa. He has so far bagged six wickets in three matches for Deccan Chargers. Indian bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, who is also the bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings, is surprised as well. Spin has surprised everyone Venkatesh Prasad, Agencies April 27, 2009 As a coach, it's not always about telling someone what to do, but also about learning along the way. At this point of time the most important part of my job is observation. Things move so fast in this format that one sometimes gets too caught up with the action to make the right observation. The fast bowlers were expected to play a part in South Africa but the spinners coming into their own is something that could not have been predicted. And it is all so different from IPL 1, where spinners struggled for the best part. I put down the spinners' success not just to wearing tracks but also to the fact that the practitioners of the art have employed a lot of variety. Variation in spin is one thing, but the variation in the faster deliveries is even better. The spinners have improved technically and as bowling coach, I am not complaining. As far as I am concerned, anything that makes the batsmen think in this format, is worth its weight on gold. I'm still surprised to note the spinners are being used in the death overs. It's the surprise element that comes into play here. If spinners manage even one of or two dot balls, we can expect a good over. Chennai were expected to start better but it's early days. What heartens me is our team meetings. Even after a loss, the attitude is positive. It is that positive attitude that we will take into our next matches. But apart from the experienced spinners and of course Ojha, I thought Mishra bowled beautifully for Delhi yesterday and was unfailry given wide thrice. And the young spinner from BRC, Appanna bowled as beautifully too. Who said our spin cupboard is bare? The only spinners who've not impressed so far are Chawla, and Mendis as well as Powar, the latter two having played just one match each. Which other spinners have impressed you in IPL2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunny Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 The reality is that all the spinners including Ojha, Vettori, Bhajji and Appanna can be milked easily in ODIs (and tests on a non-turning wicket). Because players are looking to hit, they are getting out to spinners. All the batsmen need to watch Mohinder's "dancing down the wicket" lessons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaurav92 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 ya i agree that spinners are havin a fantastic tornament in safari country which perhaps is said to be suited to the fast bowlers more than the spinners but sice we have already seen that the spinners have made their mark very clear that they dont believe in history they want to make a mark today and show the world the strength in their arms wrists and fingers....:winky: as we have seen that spinners are enjoying the IPL bhajji bowled well against chennai super kings kumble got a fiver against royals vettori scalped 3 off kings 11 ojha bowled well against kkr murali karthik also bowled reasonably well provided thatgibbsy and rohit were going bezerk at that stage slam bang every ball chipping down the track and going for the onslaught warne was fantastic all thru out the tornament and we have seen that spinners are playing a major role in restricting the scores to a reasonable 150/160 which perhaps cud have been 180/190 so spinners are putting the breaks on the oppsition batsman and they are not able to score freely off them now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandan Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'm really glad the way Ojha bowled even yesterday against CSK. Gilly just forgot to give him the second spell or else he could have had few more wickets. Even lesser spinners like Raina, Rohit and Venu are doing well. The only ones to disappoint so far are Chawla, Mendis and to some extent even Bhajji. Spinners who can turn the ball are reaping rewards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Sharma Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 The art of "coming down the pitch" is dying. Batsmen today are very circumspect. Having said that I think the spinners have done really well especillay Ojha, they should play him ahead of Bhajji in the T20 WC, but Bhajji's big hitting might just tilt the balance in his favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suraj Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Its a good thing that spinners are getting a good opportunity- makes teh game interesting:two_thumbs_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sachinism Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Ojha & Bhaji for T20 WC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketics Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Vettori seriously had a ball today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graphic23 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Ojha has done remarkably well and deserves a spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Amit Mishra :thumbs_up: bowled well today, till Yusuf Pathan spoilt his figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suraj Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Vettori seriously had a ball today :giggle::giggle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suraj Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Amit Mishra :thumbs_up: bowled well today' date=' till Yusuf Pathan spoilt his figures.[/quote'] That goes well for every bowler- they bowl well until someone spoils figures same thing for batsmen- they are playing well till the ball that gets their wicket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 That goes well for every bowler- they bowl well until someone spoils figures same thing for batsmen- they are playing well till the ball that gets their wicket What I mean is - despite the belting, overall he has still done well today. Good show by Mishra. (I wanted to say, he bowled very well today, I added the last part only because some one here will say 'But Yusuf hit him for boundaries'). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I added the last part only because I cannot get through one post without whining and negativity. There you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graphic23 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 There you go. :cantstop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4te Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 There you go. :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laaloo Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 There you go. :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandan Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 Yesterday, even Warne got thrashed. He has been thrashed in this tournament a couple of times. And many batsmen still dance down the pitch to dispatch the spinners. Those who know this art haven't forgotten it. Sangakkara has done it so many times in this tournament, if you are not willing to add Ganguly. But yesterday, none of the spinners impressed apart from Mishra who bowled with loop and flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graphic23 Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Yesterday, even Warne got thrashed. He has been thrashed in this tournament a couple of times. And many batsmen still dance down the pitch to dispatch the spinners. Those who know this art haven't forgotten it. Sangakkara has done it so many times in this tournament, if you are not willing to add Ganguly. But yesterday, none of the spinners impressed apart from Mishra who bowled with loop and flight. No one's actually hit Ojha too much - even Harbhajan hasn't gotten hit too much. Warne got thrashed because he was bowling long hops and there were quite a few lucky shots/edges - not because it was easy to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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