Top slow man Tahir a matchwinner, but so are India’s Ashwin and Jadeja
INDIA surprised friend and foe four years ago to win the ICC Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom. Even with heavy rain sweeping across Birmingham for most of that final day, MS Dhoni hauled out his spinners to tie England up in knots. For so long teams from the sub-continent had toured the UK expecting a pasting, owing to both the clouds above and grass underfoot, conditions which promote swing and seam bowling.
India’s endeavours were, of course, aided by excellent work from the Edgbaston ground staff, who managed to keep the pitch bone dry. That allowed Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to make the ball turn, bounce and spit. The lasting image of the tournament remains the final delivery, with England’s James Tredwell falling away to the leg-side with the ball turning sharply past the left-hander’s offstump. In fact, the turn was so marked that it even deceived Dhoni behind the stumps.
The 2017 edition of the Champions Trophy is set to be played at the same three venues as four years ago, and not at Lord’s where Kagiso Rabada and Co prospered on a green-tinged pitch on Monday. That surface had England captain Eoin Morgan – a casualty from that 2013 final defeat – criticising the surface after his team were reduced to 20/6 within the first five overs.
So, expect the curators at The Oval, Edgbaston and Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens to haul out their lawnmowers to ensure that all their pitches are devoid of any grass, especially with Morgan specifically pointing out: “I’d be disappointed if we did come across surfaces like that in the ICC Champions Trophy. There was a lot of live, green grass on the (Lord’s) wicket.”
This, in turn – pardon the pun – will only increase the spinners’ significance in this upcoming Champions Trophy, with captains most often expecting their spinners to keep a tight leash on the run-rate during the middle overs and even hopefully pick up a couple of wickets to stem the tide.
“I have no doubt the wickets are not going to look anything like Lord’s. They are definitely going to be a lot flatter and that possibly even allows teams like South Africa to play two spinners,” says former Proteas left-armer Robin Peterson, who played in the 2013 edition.
“Since the 2015 World Cup England have really transformed their ODI side and a lot of that has to do with the attacking style of cricket they want to play. You can’t play that type of cricket on pitches that move around, so that does bring the spinners into the game later on and as the tournament moves towards the back end.”
So, will Edgbaston be a replica of Eden Gardens then? “No, no… you’re still playing in England and your seam bowlers will have their opportunity to strike with the new ball,” Peterson said.
“It’s not going to rag around corners either. The ball doesn’t turn that extravagantly in England. But there will be just enough purchase for the spinners. Captains will be glad that they have the variation in their attack that the spinners provide, but it will be interesting to see how the captains utilise their spinners according to the conditions.”
Peterson believes South Africa are wellstocked in the spin department for this Champions Trophy. Imran Tahir is the leading white-ball bowler on the international circuit and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has shown useful promise in his first two ODI’s played recently against England.
“Immy is world-class,” Peterson said. “There’s no doubt about that. He hardly bowls a bad ball any longer. Just so consistent. He also loves the big stage and these ICC tournaments. It’s almost as if he raises his game to a higher level.
“Keshav’s done wonderfully well since his coming into the Proteas environment. He has been superb in Test cricket and now he is getting a chance in one-day cricket. I thought he was unlucky on debut in Southampton with a couple of catches going down, so it was good for his confidence that he picked up a few wickets at Lord’s.”
The Proteas’ go-to man has been simply sensational in white-ball cricket ever since debuting for his adopted nation back at the 2011 World Cup. Tahir is the chief source of wickets for South Africa during the middle overs and is an integral part of AB de Villiers’ bowling plans. Not renowned for whizzing leg-breaks past the outside edge of the right-hander’s bat, Tahir prefers to attack the stumps and pads with his oftused googly. And when those zing bails are disturbed or the umpire upholds an appeal, don’t lose him in the crowd when he heads off on one of those unique celebrations.
Considering all the “mystery” slow bowlers with assorted actions to have emerged from the island over the years, it is a surprise that Lakshan Sandakan is the first chinaman bowler (left-arm wrist spinner) to represent Sri Lanka across all formats. Sandakan, though, has been forced to bide his time while others such as Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake and Ajantha Mendis continued Muttiah Muralitharan’s work after the legendary Sri Lankan spinner retired.
Now 25, and having matured after mesmerising the Australians with the red ball last year, the stage has been set for Sandakan to get his big-turning-leg breaks fizzing. Pakistan have a long tradition of launching a teenager on the global stage at major tournaments and Shadab Khan is the latest off the conveyor belt. Plucked from the PSL T20, the 18-year-old is expected to make a big impact with his leg-breaks. Not a prodigious turner of the ball, but rather like his former countryman Imran Tahir, Shadab relies on his googly to deceive the batsmen.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
They don’t call him “Sir Jadeja” for nothing, while Ashwin is one of the craftiest operators around. The pair were instrumental in guiding India to the Champions Trophy the last time around and will relish the chance to weave their magic at the same venues four years later. The duo are integral to India’s chances of becoming only the second team to defend the ICC Champions Trophy title.