TIRUNELVELI: There is always an urge for the captain to pick left-arm spinners, especially in the shorter formats of the game. Indian Premier League saw few of the successful left-arm spinners bag big deals, with Ravindra Jadeja being picked up by Chennai Super Kings for 9.2 crore in 2012 and Pawan Negi bought by Delhi Daredevils for 8.5 crore in 2016 and in 2017. Axar Patel who plays for Kings XI Punjab was rewarded a place in Indian ODI squad after his successful IPL stint in 2014, where he took 16 wickets at an economy rate of 6.22.
In the second edition of India Cements - Tamil Nadu Premier League, there is at least one left-arm spinner in each of the eight teams. Given the fact that they turn the ball away from right-handed batsmen, left-arm tweakers are an asset to any side. Though teams look to have a fair amount of fast and medium pace bowlers in the merciless T20s format, teams nowadays also pack spinners, especially left-arm ones and leggies, who can get vital breakthroughs.
Scott Styris, former New Zealand cricketer, says that it is always difficult to face a left-arm spinner in any format of the game. “Captains these days want the ball to turn away from the batsmen. So as a right hander you have to be wary because if you miss the ball you can be stumped or get hit by stumps. If it’s turning back it will put you on the leg and you will be out with a leg-bye and that is much worse. There is not as much as you could do naturally as a batsman. I think It doesn’t matter if you are left-hander because it’s about the ball moving away from the batsmen.”
For left-arm spinner Rahil Shah, who has been part of the Tamil Nadu set-up for quite some time, men of his ilk are an important factor in the game. Shah, who represents VB Thiruvallur Veerans, said after taking four wickets against Dindigul Dragons on Friday: “It’s always good to have those wicket-taking bowlers in this side as they add a balance to the bowling unit.” It is not surprising that Veerans have three bowlers of that style in the squad.
Styris is also of the opinion that times are changing a little bit now, with almost every IPL team boasting a leggie. “But a good spinner is always a good spinner as they hold that place in the team. Take the case of Ravindra Jadeja. He is been successful in all the formats, but got little overshadowed in this year’s IPL, may be because of playing cricket all through the year. But perhaps, people are still trying to figure out how to play left-arm spinners.”
Brief scores
Karaikudi Kaalai 122/9 in 20 ovs (Shajahan 43; Adhisayaraj Davidson 2/19,Washington Sundar 2/22) lost to Tuti Patriots 126/4 in 18.5 ovs (Washington Sundar 62*; Mohan Prasath 1/20); VB Thiruvallur Veerans 182/5 in 20 ovs (NS Chaturved 89, S Siddharth 60; J Koushik 2/33) bt Ruby Trichy Warriors 125/8 in 20 ovs (B Indrajith 34, B Shankar 33; Rahil S Shah 2/29, Malolan Rangarajan 2/23).
srinidhi@newindianexpress.com