Many pundits believe the presence of a leg-spinner is such an asset to any team. The present Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee president Sidath Wettimuny spoke about the aspect of grooming a leg-spinner for Sri Lanka in the future. “A good leg-spinner is an invaluable asset. They can win you many matches.”
Cricket has evolved drastically in the last couple of decades and currently most believe it is a batsman’s game with all the new rules and regulations heavily favouring the batsmen. Opposition captains have brought in spinners rather quickly to stop the run-flow but are spinners only effective to break the rhythm of the game and stem the run-scoring? No, spinners are wicket-takers, especially right-arm leg spinners also known as leg-break bowlers.
Right-arm leg-spin bowling is an intricate art and its Picasso is Australian Shane Warne. Warne was an extraordinary bowler. We really cannot say enough about him. He will illustrate leg-break bowling for as long as the skill exists. If and when an outstanding leg-spinner achieves something of note, the question will always be: how does he compare to the great Shane Warne? As fascinating to watch as were Indian Anil Kumble and Pakistani Mushtaq Ahmed, Warne competing against world-class batsmen such as Tendulkar and Lara was a sight for sore eyes.
Warne’s bowling style was text-book and a benchmark to study and emulate – so simple, so vibrant and apparently effortless. His chubby face and aggression were daunting as his feats were epic; 1001 international wickets both in ODI and Test formats. It is really hard to recall leg-break bowling before Shane Warne but in the 1980s, there were the mysteries and maneuverings of Pakistani Abdul Qadir and Sri Lankan DS De Silva. Even though the era’s cannot be compared easily it could be said they were nowhere near the ‘King of Leg Spin’. Kumble finished his career as the third-highest Test wicket-taker with 619 scalps and he together with Warne have almost 2000 international wickets which is why the art of Leg Spin was ruling though Murali gave stiff competition overtaking both of them in terms of wickets.
Where are the match-winning leg spinners now? Controversy surrounded off-spin bowlers such as Saeed Ajmal, Sachithra Senanayake and Sunil Narine with their actions being deemed illegal. It’s high time, leg-spinners start ruling the world of cricket. Currently the world cricket possesses South African Imran Tahir, West Indian Devendra Bishoo, Indian Amit Mishra, Australian Fawad Ahmed, Pakistani Yasir Shah, Englishmen Adil Rashid and Sri Lankan Seekuge Prasanna.
The top-class leg-spin bowlers are also able to bowl deliveries that behave unexpectedly, including the mesmerizing ‘Googly’, which turns the opposite way to a normal leg-break and the top-spinner, which does not turn but dips sharply and bounces higher than other deliveries. Legends like Warne and Kumble had mastered the flipper, a delivery that is like a top-spinner which goes straight on landing, but floats through the air before skidding and keeping low.
Leg-spinners often go for plenty of runs but they have the unique knack of picking up wickets. Most captains would love their bowlers to dismantle the opposition and they would include at least one leg-spinner as a wicket-taking option. Conditions will also have to be considered while including a leg-spinner in the playing XI. In Asian conditions, pitches tend to grip and help the leg-spinner to extract more spin but it is completely different on bouncy surfaces.
In the Sri Lankan context, ‘The Pearl of the Indian Ocean’ is clearly lacking wicket-taking bowlers and effective leg-spinners. In recent times, Jeewan Mendis played as a part-time leggie while Seekuge Prasanna found it very difficult to turn the ball regularly and has been in and out of the side. Through history, Sri Lanka has produced leg-break bowlers such as DS De Silva, Asoka De Silva, Upul Chandana, Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Malinga Bandara. While the name Muttiah Muralidaran is ‘top of the mind’ of any Sri Lankan when they hear the word spin, the spinners mentioned above hardly come to mind.
Sri Lanka has all the natural cricket resources to produce champion leg-spinners but what has gone wrong? Is the Lankan ODI style of putting runs on the board first and then strangling the opposition with off-spin bowling the reason why Sri Lanka never produced an outstanding leg-spinner in the recent history?
Many leg-spinners are not currently in the pipeline to be injected into the national team as many do not take up the challenge of bowling leg-spin which is by far the toughest form of spin bowling. SSC’s Jeffrey Vandersey, NCC’s Saranga Rajaguru and Aravinda Akurugoda, Tamil Union’s Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Richmond College’s Wanindu Hasaranga are a few of the future leg-spin prospects currently playing in the domestic circuit but the list is short and that is a disappointing fact.
The junior level coaches must encourage newcomers to bowl leg-spin without tempting them to bowl dart off-spin and win games. The authorities must look closely to groom a world-class and match-winning leg-spinner for Sri Lanka.
