Spin outshining pace in Tests

NEW DELHI: Ever since Muttiah Muralitharan broke Courtney Walsh’s world record in 2004, the mantle of the top Test wickettaker has stayed with spinners. Right now, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah is on his way to becoming the fastest to 200 wickets in Test cricket. Another development last week — spinners claiming 100 wickets in a three-match Test series for the first time when England whitewashed Sri Lanka — confirmed their slow but steady resurgence over pacers as the more effective lot.

And there are figures to prove it. Between 2009 to 2013 end, there were only four spinners in the top-10 Test wicket-takers’ list. That has grown to six till date. When it comes to five-wicket and 10-wicket hauls (see box) also, spinners have surged ahead.

Several factors have contributed to this. Spinners hold an edge over fast bowlers when it comes to bowling more overs in a day or game. That gives them an advantage against tail-enders, more susceptible to spin than pace. But the most significant changes came in the last decade.

Before the turn of the century, cricket usually followed the norm of subcontinent teams being embarrassed by pace and swing outside Asia, only to pay back with their spinners on square turners. With more cricket round the year though, pitches started getting flatter, impeding pacers.

With the IPL kicking off in 2008, the pace-spin balance had a decisive shift. The T20 game prompted bowlers to adapt quickly and spinners showed more enterprise. They also applied tricks from the shortest format in Tests. While yorkers almost vanished in Test cricket, spinners are using variations and the crease well. With India preparing turners at home for Tests, it was also a perfect stage for visiting spinners to succeed.

Not surprisingly, India’s heaviest defeats at home in the last 5-6 years were orchestrated by spinners, starting with a 2-1 loss to England in 2012 with Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann crush-