- By Dr. V.V. Giri
Ravichandran Ashwin, during the recent IPL and the ODIs played in India, tormented the best of the batsmen with his off spin and was projected as the best Indian bowler by all. Within a few weeks, he went to Australia and after the disastrous test series he was criticized by almost every one and branded as ‘not a so good’ bowler.
Why this sudden change of scenario? A man who controlled and fooled almost all the top batsmen in IPL, was suddenly found wanting. Well, that’s test cricket. Many spin bowlers were reduced to a dust when it comes to test cricket that too, in overseas condition.
When you bowl to quality batsmen in tests, they have all the time to read you and negotiate accordingly. There is no hurry for them to score quickly and so they don’t make mistakes. You don’t get that many chances in test cricket to get a batsman out, as in the limited overs.
If spinners want to survive long in test cricket, they need the following.
a. Terrific control.
b. Vicious spin.
c. Clever variety.
d. Never say die- Heart
Control, as you all know is nothing but accuracy. In test cricket, a spin bowler cannot compromise on line and length. It has to be precise throughout the spell. That’s the difference in various levels of cricket. A test spinner is supposed to bowl every ball in good length or where he intends to. Whether it is a ‘well flighted’ delivery or ‘lower trajectory’, the ball has to pitch exactly in the planned area.
I have seen in the past, almost all Indian spin bowlers with awesome control pitching the ball continuously where they wanted. Whether it was a new ball or a old ball, they never messed up with line and length. But today, unfortunately every spin bowler bowls most of their deliveries with enough width, to be hammered. If they bowl two balls in good length, they are considered excellent spinner.
Next important factor is spin. There is lot of difference between turn and spin. A turning ball need not have good spin and a spinning ball not necessarily turns. You get ‘turn’, more out of pitch condition. The ball, if it gets enough ‘grip’ on the wicket surface, it turns. Even just few revolutions in the ball are enough to turn the ball on a rough surface.
But spin is something in the hands of the bowler. There are three parts involved in spin bowling – fingers, wrist and arm. If all three coordinate well, you get maximum spin on the ball. Spin is very important to get respect from the batsman. A bowler with vigorous spin, worry the batsman all the time.
Clever variety: At the highest level, you definitely need to have some variety to make the batsmen guess. If you keep bowling the same spinning or turning delivery, the batsmen in the test level, get accustomed quickly and play easily. The variety could be anything like- Arm ball, Faster one, Under cutter, Top spinner, Carrom ball, Doosra or the latest Teesra.
All, the bowler, has to do initially, is to show the batsmen that he possesses varieties and the batsmen immediately go under pressure. Bowling the variety ball in good area and in correct time is a real talent. Very few people skillfully utilize their variety.
Finally the spin bowler needs a good heart at the test level. I am of the opinion that you make a good spinner only if you get hammered in your earlier days. You should bowl in placid wickets to grinding batsmen to get that heart to bowl in tougher situation. Normally a spinner gets a ‘never say die’ heart only after he crosses 30 years or put on more years of experience. Till that time, they get seasoned.
Now, what is wrong with Ashwin? Ravichandran Ashwin is a very clever bowler. There is no doubt about that. He is a thinker, plans well and fools the batsmen most times in other forms of cricket. In test cricket too, he was able to mesmerize the youngsters and beginners. In this Oz tour, he was able to remove the inexperienced batsmen quickly, but the experienced veterans like Ponting, Hussey and Clarke pulverized him.
When you analyze the tussle between Ashwin and the top Oz batsmen, Ashwin was comfortable bowling flatter as in limited over games. The batsmen were playing him easily with ones and twos. When he tried to toss the ball, these experienced batsmen came out easily and put him where ever they wanted.
In 60s and 70s, we have seen Bedi and Prasanna tossing up the ball to the great Aussie batsmen namely -Chappell, Walters , Redpath and Simpson and caused lots of problems to them. What was so special they did, which Ashwin couldn’t do now?
It is the spin factor. I have seen in the Indian team net practice, Bedi and Prasanna bowl with new ball and spin the ball madly. In fact I could hear the ‘fizz’ noise of the new ball spinning. They had supple fingers and gave enough tweak to the ball with only two or three fingers. They never used the thumb or palm which normally prevent the spin. They could spin the ball like a ‘spinning top’, yet put the ball on the spot. Such was their talent.
Ashwin is not a great finger spinner. He gives a mild tweak on the ball sideways and if the ball gets the surface grip, it turns. A good spinner spins the ball parallel to the pitch. That is, the seam should be facing the batsman and the spin should take place in the same direction to cause more problems for the batsmen. This is called over spin. If the bowler spins the ball sideways, it doesn’t worry the batsmen that much.
How to bowl an ideal off spin delivery?
1. The off spinner must hold the ball with not more than three fingers. (Normally the fingers are kept on the seam, not across the seam). Thumb or palm should not touch the ball.
2. Take comfortable easy fixed run up to the crease. Do not look at the crease at the time of the run up or delivery.
3. At the time of delivery, go sideways, closer to the stumps, arc your body backwards, bring the body in front along with the arm.
4. Aim and deliver the ball with a good tweak -using fingers, wrist and the arm to spin the ball to the maximum.
5. Bring the body in front and bend enough to touch the ground after the delivery which is called the ‘follow through’.
6. After delivery make sure, you move away from the danger zone.
When you follow the above steps, you get enough “venom” in your delivery. Because of your arc, body bending follow through and the spin, the ball which goes up in the air, suddenly drops down due to the over spin. This is called the “DIP”. When you get such dip, automatically you get the “NIP” which means the ball jumps high after pitching. This ‘dip’ & ‘nip’ phenomenon is the effect of following all the above conditions. This can be done in any wicket & in any condition.
When a spinner is able to get this dip, he can flight the ball courageously and invite the batsmen to come out and play. There is every chance of fooling the batsman in the air and the batsman also is not confident enough to come out, fearing the ball to dip and deceive him in the flight.
As I told earlier, spinners like Prasanna and Bedi used to flight the ball high up in the air to even the best batsmen, inviting them to come out. They would do this in any wicket (even in Australia, England, or in West Indies). The batsmen seeing the ‘dip’ fear to go out and finally try to play with in the crease and perish.
Ashwin, unfortunately is unable to do this. That’s the reason Clarke, Ponting and Hussey came out and drove him where ever they wanted. He must learn to spin more and also use the waist and follow -through effectively. If he gets that, he would be a menace. His line and length also was not ‘test class’. Because of insufficient spin on the ball, the batsmen were in no trouble, whenever the ball was pitched little short or full.
Typical example of fearsome off spinner in the world today is Pakistan’s Syed Ajmal. If you watch the replay of his bowling, you can see the above 6 steps being followed. He also possesses the required qualities for a classy spin bowler-Spin, Control, Variety & Heart.
Dr. Giri has a Ph. D in Pharmaceutical Technology and has been involved in Research and Development of Drugs for many years. He is also a visiting faculty in many Universities in India. Dr. Giri is a great articulator."
No comments:
Post a Comment