COLOMBO: Fifty-four spinners have bowled in 25 innings or more in the last 12 months (only T20s).
Barring an injury, six of them will feature play in Sunday's match. Abrar Ahmed. Usman Tariq. Saim Ayub. Mohammad Nawaz. Varun Chakravarthy. Axar Patel. A seventh, Kuldeep Yadav, may get a call up if the Indian team management, who have complained about the nature of pitches given to them at the World Cup, decide to stop worrying about the conditions given to them.
It's why this Group A clash will likely be decided by the slower bowlers. That itself is a significant departure from a usual India vs Pakistan match-up. These matches have either been decided by Indian batters or Pakistan's pacers. At the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, this contest will genuinely be between the likes of Chakravarthy and Tariq, the two mystery spinners.
The presence of Tariq, Pakistan's great disruptor, has already caused some consternation. When the 28-year-old made his international debut, the Asia Cup was already over so this is the first time Indian viewers will watch him with genuine interest. If they find his action 'weird', a word he used to describe his action, it's because it is.
But he has also been cleared. Twice. By the International Cricket Council (ICC). At the pre-match press conference, Pakistan captain, Salman Agha, was asked about Tariq's action not once but multiple times. Each time, Agha said: "I just know that he (Tariq) doesn't care about these things.
He pauses before his deliveries — something R Ashwin used to do a lot — but Tariq does this before every delivery. He also bowls round arm and tries to generate enough angles that would send the standard mathematics textbook running for cover (remember Kedar Jadhav's round and side arm action, it's bit like that). Because of the lower release points, he can be very hard to hit.
How did he become a spinner? In an interview he gave to Desert Vipers ahead of this year's ILT20 final, he spoke about bowling spin in one game because he had picked up an injury pre-match while playing tennis ball cricket. Because he picked up a couple of wickets, he became a spinner.
On the pause itself, 'it's a natural pause', he said. In the interview (the in-house video has been shared with this daily), he said he didn't even notice the 'pause' before one of his coaches mentioned it to him. "I learned my bowling with this action," he said. "It's all part of my natural process. And I have made it finer with a lot of practice."
The action is unique because he has 'two elbows'. "It makes my hand really hard to stretch, so that's what's confusing the spectators. In essence, his arm bends naturally thanks to a biological gift. "Every single person commenting on my action should go study the game first," he added in the interview.
One person who knows Usman well back in Pakistan says teams have done themselves an injustice by focusing too much on his action. The person, currently involved in the game, says he can be hit as long as they don't try to generate power from movements (stepping outside the crease, for example). "You have to be inside the crease, wait for him to deliver. The actual mystery element isn't in his action, it's on what comes after that." An analyst who believed a lot in Tariq initially was Prasanna Agoram, the Indian who used to work with him at Quetta.
The other frontline spinner they have is Ahmed, no stranger to Indians. At the Champions Trophy's Ahmed's send off after dismissing Shubman Gill with a beauty became a meme. But the leggie has continued to make a name for himself post that game. Among full members who have bowled in over 15 matches over the last 12 months, his economy of 6.43 is one of the best. He has added some variations but more than that, he has taken to heart an advice given to him by Shane Watson.
Back when Watson was coaching Quetta in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Australian used to tell him 'don't go shopping (for wickets). You will get them irrespective'. But because Ahmed used to try and bowl Hollywood balls, he used to lose his radar every now and then.
Not anymore. Ahmed, Tariq and Co. will be waiting.