Spinners not to restrict, but pick wickets: Mishra
NEW DELHI: Power-hitters and pace-bowling all-rounders again gear up to hog the limelight as the 10th IPL gets rolling, but spinners are confident they can get the job done quietly. Amit Mishra, the most successful IPL spinner, and its second highest wicket-taker, believes the best tactic is to go for wickets. Daredevils’ spin pack is home-bred — Mishra, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, offspinner Jayant Yadav and young leggie, Murugan Ashwin.
“You can see we have a variety of spinners, they are all wicket takers,” Mishra told a pre-season Daredevils news conference. “If you take wickets in T20, you can put pressure on the opposition. We all think that way. We are not thinking about hamein time pass bowlers chahiye, aise chaar over dalke nikal jaye (we need bowlers to kill time and somehow get through the four overs). Whoever plays, we will go for wickets.”
Mishra, 34, has three hattricks which attest to his wicket-taking credentials in IPL. And the seasoned bowler said plans were in place to give a good start to Daredevils. “Every year new players come. That to me is the biggest challenge. Every year batsmen bring new shots, even in fielding there is something new. We have to grasp that,” Mishra said.
Left-arm spinner, Shahbaz Nadeem, with Daredevils since 2012, has arrived this time as the leading Ranji wicket-taker in 2016-17 with 56 scalps. “Spinners in T20, if they bowl good line and length and deceive batsmen in the air, they have a chance.”
Mishra said: “You must have quality, variations, and know when to bowl slow or fast. Whatever variations you have, it’s important to use them. Your chances of becoming successful get higher.”
Tamil Nadu leg-spinner, Ashwin may not get many chances, after switching to Daredevils from Pune Supergiant. “My role has always been about getting wickets. If I get two wickets in the middle overs, I have done my job.”