For spinners, the world of cricket is getting flatter and flatter every day. Unfriendly pitches have forced them to reduce their loop in order to keep a check on the batsmen who are more than eager to step out every now and then. While it is easier for finger spinners (or off-spinners and left-arm orthodox ones) to adapt and ball flat and accurate, wrist spinners (or leg-spinners) are finding themselves out of team’s scheme of things.
“It (flat pitches) is a problem for all kinds of spinners. But leg spinners are wicket-taking bowlers and they give more flight to the ball as compared to off-spinners or left-arm spinners. So, there are more chances of leaking runs. And captains and coaches prefer those bowlers who can contain the batsmen on batting friendly pitches,” Amit Mishra, who is representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier league, told The Pioneer.
Mishra, who has taken 81 wickets from 59 matches in the Indian Premier league (IPl) so far, truly believes in the old adage that hard work is the key to success. “No doubt, leg spin is a difficult form of bowling. But, to be good, you have to work hard. If you are working hard on your bowling and variations, leg spin can be an advantage as well. Sometimes what happens is that you get help from the pitch and in that situation it’s difficult to play leg spin. But I would like to add one thing here that you have to work a lot harder to bowl leg spin than, say, off-spin,” he said.
The 30-year-old Haryana spinner was adjudged man of the match for his all-round effort in helping Sunrisers win the away tie against Delhi Daredevils on Friday. He bowled a tight spell of four overs where he spent only 15 runs and collected one wicket. In the four IPl matches that he has played for far this season, Mishra’s economy rate is 5.68, better than any other spinner except Sunil Narine.
“If we look at the last year, I was injured and came into the tournament direct from injury. But this time I am fit and have played a few matches before the tournament. I did well in the domestic cricket. I am high on confidence,” Mishra said.
“Domestic cricket gives you confidence. You are judged by your performance in the domestic cricket and IPl as well is a domestic tournament. No doubt the participation of big players makes it a big tournament. If you can carry your domestic cricket confidence here in this tournament, nothing can be better than that. I believe one should always play a few matches before coming here,” he added.
legendary spinner Shane Warne, probably unhappy with the declining popularity of leg-spin in the world, recently said that the present day captains are too defensive and that is killing the art of leg-spin. And he wasn’t completely wrong in his assessment. Five slow bowlers features in the list of top-10 Test bowlers and none of them is a leg-spinner. If we see the Test teams around the world, only South Africa have a leg-spinner, Imran Tahir, in their ranks but he too isn’t a regular feature in the first eleven.
But Mishra feels lucky to have played under captains who are supportive and always encouraged him to go for wickets. “I don’t think so. I am playing under Kumar Sangakkara. He is always there to help me. Tom Moody too tells me, ‘you bowl whatever you want to. You just take wickets for us,” Mishra said.