da spicy bet： Many eyebrows were raised at the completion of the recent lowscoring one-day series between New Zealand and India
Erapalli Prasanna31-Jan-2003Many eyebrows were raised at the completion of the recent lowscoring one-day series between New Zealand and India. Even NewZealand cricket’s top man, Martin Snedden, was quite displeasedwith the state of pitches in the series. Ironically enough,Snedden is one person who would know more about getting smackedaround the park; he holds the dubious distinction of being theonly bowler to have conceded more than 100 runs in a World Cupinnings!But say what you will, the nature of the one-day game is suchthat it is geared for instant entertainment, and that invariablyinvolves the ball flying to all directions in the field. The NewZealand series was an aberration at best, and rarely have bowlershad such a good time in a one-day series. In fact, even the fastbowlers have had the benefit of the new ball and early-morningmoisture to help them; it is the spinners who have been thewhipping-boys of spectacle called one-day cricket.
© CricInfoIndeed, there was even a time when spinners were unwanted in oneday cricket. That changed when Imran Khan used Abdul Qadir as anattacking option during the 1983 World Cup. Qadir obliginglysnapped up four wickets against New Zealand, and then fiveagainst Sri Lanka. Mind you, Qadir was a complete leg-spinbowler, a master of his craft; he had a deadly googly thatbamboozled even the very best of batsmen, and in 1983, Qadir waspossibly at the peak of his powers.Spin played a large role in Indian one-day victories as well, andthat is a factor that most people do not recall about Indiawinning the Benson & Hedges World Championship in 1984/85. On thebouncy tracks down under, India employed spin as a mode of attackto claim wickets, a ploy that no team had effectively pursuedbefore. I was then the manager of the Indian team, and it was apleasure to see Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Ravi Shastri bowl intandem, picking up wickets at regular intervals.One absolute necessity for this strategy to work is the presenceof an astute captain who is willing to set fields for spin andattack without qualms. Imran was a sharp leader, and so was SunilGavaskar; both knew the psyches of their bowlers only too well,and they ensured that the spinners got the fields they wanted andbowled with the sole objective of taking wickets.
© CricInfoOn the other hand, if spinners bowl only to restrict, it becomesa totally different ball game. For starters, it would allow abatting side on 180 for two in 40 overs to easily add around 100runs in the remaining 10. That scenario would change completelyif two spinners picked four wickets between them in theirallotted 20 overs. Any team that loses four wickets in the middleovers will struggle to make it to 235, and that is why I believethat spin will have an important role to play, not just in thisWorld Cup but in all one-day internationals.A close analysis will reveal that it is the teams without qualityspinners that go in for bits-and-pieces medium-pacers to seethrough the middle overs. The really good spinners – Shane Warne,Muttiah Muralitharan and Saqlain Mushtaq – have taken the art ofone-day spin bowling to dizzying new levels. The game, in fact,owes Warne much for reinventing spin; he always looks to attack,whatever the situation, and even the fielder on the midwicketfence becomes an attacking position when Warne weaves his magic.As I mentioned earlier, it takes a very good captain to see to itthat a spinner succeeds in one-day cricket, and Warne was luckyto start his career under the experienced and wily Allan Border.Even Mark Taylor was quick to recognise the significance ofWarne’s attacking role when he took over the captaincy, and oneof the consequences – Warne’s match-winning performance in the1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies at Mohali – issimply unforgettable.
© CricInfoBeing an off-spinner myself, there is no way I can ignoreMuralitharan’s contribution to this arena. The amount of turn hegets on any surface makes him a very special talent, and it was apleasure to give him the CEAT International Cricketer of the Yearaward last Tuesday. I am sure Arjuna Ranatunga deserves much ofthe credit when people talk about the mercurial rise ofMuralitharan, but the genial off-spinner’s own qualities havehelped in no small measure. I was quite moved when Muraliapproached me after the awards ceremony for some help; he wantedmy advice on how to bowl to batsmen who are adept at playing thesweep-shot. If not for the prodigious turn alone, I admire Muralifor still wanting to constantly learn and perfect his art, evenat the peak of a brilliant career.Murali and Warne’s success over the recent years has made onething clear – spin is no more a mere sidekick to fast bowling. Itcan be devastatingly attacking in its own right, and as aspinner, I am proud that spin is holding its own – and doingrather well at that – not only in Test cricket but in the one-daygame as well.