A change in the usual
Friday, 25 March 2011
Mahmudur Rahman
It had been expected that one of the major keys to success in the competition would be the ability of batsmen to negotiate spinners on pitches friendly to them. The surprise element of the seamers getting more wickets than the tweakers seemed to have put paid to that notion. But when class spinners are coming into their own, the statement regains credence. And the difference in the way batsmen have adapted raises the faith in skill being so much a dominating factor. It was Sachin Tendulkar a few days ago, prior to that Misbahul Huq and Younus Khan showed how the depth of the crease can be used to blunt even the redoubtable Muttiah Muralidaran and much before that the pink of the pinks Jahangir Shah Badsha was shaking his head at the unwillingness of the Bangladeshi batsmen to do just that on slow wickets. Pakistan was in the mood to provide a lesson to the West Indies on how to play spin last Wednesday. To their credit the West Indies batsmen did go back in to the crease but that's where they got stuck. It was more than apparent that either they hadn't done their homework or just didn't have a clue how to play the spinning and skidding deliveries. Nor is it incumbent only on batsmen to prepare; the bowlers have a lot of thinking and re-thinking to do. Umar Gul relied more on pace in his initial days but after returning from a long layover due to injury he reduced his speed and began to use crafty measures such as the slower delivery and the reverse swinging Yorker. Zaheer Khan is another who has followed this route that too after a battle with injury and has been so very impressive. Muralidaran has lasted as long as he has due to the subtle changes in his variation and the perfection of the doosra, revealed to the world by Saqlain Mushtaq. So where is Saqlain? Nowhere to be seen. Murali looks as if he can go on and on. Graeme Swann is another example of a bowler who tries new variations on a regular basis making him a difficult tweaker to read. Shahid Afridi has been a revelation. Slowing down his pace to gain more accuracy and using the googly to great effect, he has quickly assumed the role of the lead wicket-taking spinner. With Ajmal Saeed and Mohammad Hafeez working in tandem, Afridi is really spoiled for choice. Bangladesh's spin attack does at times look very predictable on less friendly wickets. Abdur Razzak hasn't changed his variations very much though Shakib al Hasan has honed his armed delivery. So on days when he is dropping the ball accurately, Razzak gets respect. On other days he can get creamed. Shakib is more consistent but Razzak may want to reinvent given that he is not a prolific spinner of the ball. Even Harbhajan Singh with his bagful of wickets is looking to be easier to play than previously. Bangladesh's spin bowling is still their main strength but unless they change from the usual, they too will be worked out similar to the way that Tamim Iqbal has. (The writer can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
It had been expected that one of the major keys to success in the competition would be the ability of batsmen to negotiate spinners on pitches friendly to them. The surprise element of the seamers getting more wickets than the tweakers seemed to have put paid to that notion. But when class spinners are coming into their own, the statement regains credence. And the difference in the way batsmen have adapted raises the faith in skill being so much a dominating factor. It was Sachin Tendulkar a few days ago, prior to that Misbahul Huq and Younus Khan showed how the depth of the crease can be used to blunt even the redoubtable Muttiah Muralidaran and much before that the pink of the pinks Jahangir Shah Badsha was shaking his head at the unwillingness of the Bangladeshi batsmen to do just that on slow wickets. Pakistan was in the mood to provide a lesson to the West Indies on how to play spin last Wednesday. To their credit the West Indies batsmen did go back in to the crease but that's where they got stuck. It was more than apparent that either they hadn't done their homework or just didn't have a clue how to play the spinning and skidding deliveries. Nor is it incumbent only on batsmen to prepare; the bowlers have a lot of thinking and re-thinking to do. Umar Gul relied more on pace in his initial days but after returning from a long layover due to injury he reduced his speed and began to use crafty measures such as the slower delivery and the reverse swinging Yorker. Zaheer Khan is another who has followed this route that too after a battle with injury and has been so very impressive. Muralidaran has lasted as long as he has due to the subtle changes in his variation and the perfection of the doosra, revealed to the world by Saqlain Mushtaq. So where is Saqlain? Nowhere to be seen. Murali looks as if he can go on and on. Graeme Swann is another example of a bowler who tries new variations on a regular basis making him a difficult tweaker to read. Shahid Afridi has been a revelation. Slowing down his pace to gain more accuracy and using the googly to great effect, he has quickly assumed the role of the lead wicket-taking spinner. With Ajmal Saeed and Mohammad Hafeez working in tandem, Afridi is really spoiled for choice. Bangladesh's spin attack does at times look very predictable on less friendly wickets. Abdur Razzak hasn't changed his variations very much though Shakib al Hasan has honed his armed delivery. So on days when he is dropping the ball accurately, Razzak gets respect. On other days he can get creamed. Shakib is more consistent but Razzak may want to reinvent given that he is not a prolific spinner of the ball. Even Harbhajan Singh with his bagful of wickets is looking to be easier to play than previously. Bangladesh's spin bowling is still their main strength but unless they change from the usual, they too will be worked out similar to the way that Tamim Iqbal has. (The writer can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)