How crucial will be the role of spinners in the ICC T20 World Cup in UAE/Oman?

[MenInG]

From what Kohli was saying today, there is very little swing on offer in UAE so apart from out and out speed merchants and spinners, I dont see too many wicket taking options.

So which spinners are likely to be most effective on these pitches?

 

[MenInG]

Former West Indies spinner Samuel Badree feels Tabraiz Shamsi will be the best spinner on show.

==

When it comes to the best spinner at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, it's hard to look past Tabraiz Shamsi.

The South African is ranked No.1 in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for a reason and as a left-armer, he poses a significant challenge for batters.

Left-arm wrist spinners are rare in international cricket - he's very consistent, can turn the ball both ways and has tremendous control.

I saw him recently in the Caribbean when South Africa played the West Indies and he was able to spin webs around the West Indian batters.

I see him playing a major role for his team with the ball - he has the ability to bowl in different phases of the game, too, which is important.

His captain Temba Bavuma will be able to call on him to deliver at any time in the innings and that's worth its weight in gold.

In terms of other spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin is of course there for India. He has that experience; he's played for quite a long time now.

Australia can bowl Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar in tandem and they have done well bowling together in the recent past.

Most of the teams have quality spinners in their ranks - at least two of them, because of the conditions teams predict that they will face. They can all win games single-handedly.

That said, if there's one area of the West Indies team that I'm worried about, it's the spin department. It's an area of shortcoming for them.

They have the one frontline spinner, Hayden Walsh, who had an exceptional home series quite recently. He didn't have a good Caribbean Premier League and going into this tournament, his form is not the best and his confidence might not be the best.

He is quality enough to do well in the tournament, but outside of him, there aren't any out-and-out spinners. Being able to take wickets throughout the innings is so important.

If the power hitters like Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell can get the team to over 200 runs consistently, that area of deficit can be ignored. But if we don't score those type of runs, the bowling will be found out and the spin bowling in particular.

Spin was a big strength of ours when we won the tournament in 2012 and 2016. We had Sunil Narine, Sulieman Benn and myself who could all use the new ball in any game.

Spin is always important and has an integral role in T20 cricket - we've seen that in previous editions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

It's being played in the UAE and Oman, where we have traditionally come to expect slow conditions. I foresee spinners having a big impact in this tournament.

We played quite a few series in Pakistan and I played in the Pakistan Super League.

Because of the heat factor and the dry nature of the surfaces, you always expect spinners to do well. The slow nature of the pitches also helps with that.

Spinners will do particularly well in Dubai, as well as in Sharjah, which give you more of an opportunity. They will prosper less in Abu Dhabi because in my memory there is a lot of grass on the pitch there.

T20 cricket puts a lot of pressure on spinners, because you can bowl four or five good balls and still end up going for runs.

When the conditions favour the spinners, there's always additional pressure and expectation that they come and win the game for the team.

Spinners are always under pressure in this game, whether you're bowling in the first over or the last. It's not new for them.

 

[MenInG]

Murali on the same subject:

The most exciting thing about the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 is that there are no clear favourites.

Coming into the competition in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, it feels like there is no standout side and as a result, any one of a large number of teams could end up lifting the trophy.

The crucial factor will be the first six overs. That is what teams need to focus on, whether they are batting or bowling. I think that 70 to 80 per cent of the game depends on those first six overs and the result comes down to how well you do in that period.

People will look at the latter overs and, of course they are important too, but if you don’t get it right at the start, there is so little time to catch up. It’s not like a one-day game or a Test match, everything comes down to getting a good start. That is part of the reason that I think the World Cup is wide open.

I’m obviously delighted to see the importance that spinners have taken on in T20 cricket. It is a fast game and is meant to be a batter’s game, but the bowlers have adapted in the 18 years since the format first started in England. Fast bowlers are bowling slow balls and cutters and different balls. Those are the skills you have to develop.

Initially, most people thought that the spinners would be the victims of T20 cricket and that the batters would go after them. But it is clear now that the slower you bowl, the more difficult it is to hit. The spinners have become the most important bowlers and even the quicks now have to bowl slower balls and other deliveries because you want to avoid the ball coming onto the bat as much as possible. The objective is to force the batter to put the effort in to hit the ball and take the risks as a result.

My experience, both as a player and a coach or mentor in T20 cricket, was that you have to approach it with a defensive mindset, whereas in ODIs or Tests, the aim is to take wickets. Defending is attacking in T20 in my mind, you need to aim to go for 6 or 6.5 runs an over and if you can manage that, you will probably take a couple of wickets as well.

Sometimes in T20, if you’re bowling as a spinner, the Test length is not the right length. A good length will go for six, so you have to see what the batter is doing and bowl fuller or wider or sometimes very short. Sometimes it’s aiming for the body. You have to vary it depending on the conditions. You need to have the control and if you can do that, you will be very successful.

I have been out in the UAE for the IPL and looking at the wickets, it is clear that the spinners are going to have a huge role to play in the World Cup. It will depend a lot on how the curators have prepared the wickets, but it looks like the spinners will be key as the batters were finding it hard to connect and it made for some low scoring.

From a Sri Lankan perspective, the team will have to go through qualifying in the first round. The team has gone down in the last five or six years and it’s the first time in our history that it has happened to us.

Frankly speaking, we were not good enough, and have not played good enough cricket which is why we are in this position. But the team has capable players who can reach the Super 12s and have an impact, but first they have to qualify.

The spinners are very good, whereas the batting is a little bit weaker, but if they can step up and manage decent totals, then the bowlers can defend them. If they make it through, I think they will upset a few teams.

My advice to the Sri Lankan players and everyone at the World Cup would be not to overthink it, particularly the bowlers. Don’t focus on the names and the players you are going up against. You have to try not to worry about the pressure and just enjoy it. That is what T20 cricket is all about.

 

[Major]

Its going to be a spinners tournament. We have een over the years how Pakistan has dominated here with spin. Even the likes of Hafeez would open their spells here in test.

But you need to understand that when we talk about spinners, it should be those who actually spin the ball and not those line and length bowlers who offer no break.

People have been saying that Pakistan is in an easier group, while i disagree. Our group is difficult because remember only 2 toppers will make it to the semi finals and in our group we have got 2 teams that have got good spinners.

The first is offcourse India. India is packed with 6 spinners, and 3 of there spinners can actually spin the ball instead of throwing line and length. UAE, especially Abu Dhabi is gonna be a crucial wicket. Plus, the bowlers who bowl line and length end up being dangerous when they have proper spinners to assist them on the other hand.

The second team is Afghanistan. Afghanistan has the worlds best spinner called rashid khan, but they habe another spinner called mujeeb ur rehman. They did a mistake by sending qais ahmad back, but stil they have Nabi with them. AFG problem is that they dont have good coach or captain who can guide them. They keep making the mistake of opening the bowling with Mujeeb ur rehman. He should be used in the middles.

Pakistan's issue is we dont have the spinners. We have shadab,nawaz and imad, but these bowlers are not spinning the ball alot. They bowl line and length which shadab misses alot. This is why Pakistan is in abit difficulty.

Even NZ could be dangerous because they got santner, and medium pacers do well in sharjah aswell which NZ has got. I think they made a mistake by not adding colin de granhome.

Anyways, if Pakistan losses to india, than we have to come up with a good strategy against afg. We cannot take afg lightly. Against Afg, we cant risk playing haider ali or the young guys. Afg would be the dark horse

Hafeez, Shoaib, imad waseem and even asif ali should play the Afg game as hafeez and shoaib play spin well. Asif ali is known for attacking rashid khan, infact he was the only player in psl who was brave enough to go after rashid khan in uae. Imad waseem can play well against the afg bowlers as we saw in the past.

For us it might be abit difficult, but if we use our Uae experience right we can make it to the semis

 

[Saurav]

lot of dew there. Pacers will be the key

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I disagree. I think bowlers who bowl medium pace but possess a rolodex of variations: knuckle ball, slower ball etc. etc. can be highly effective as well. On sluggish wickets they will be hard to get away, and at the back-end can arguably be even more effective than the guys with serious pace.

So I would say bowlers in general might enjoy bowling on these wickets.

Could be a tough tournament for the batsmen. Especially those with questionable spin playing ability.

 

[MenInG]

Kohli speaking in captains presser:

For India captain Virat Kohli, the return of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to the white-ball squad is a sign of the evolving T20I game.

When India announced their squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, one of the names that caught the eye of fans was that of Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin is No.2 on the MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Bowling Rankings and has been a match-winner with the red-ball in hand. However, he hasn't featured in the XI in India's T20I side since July 2017.

In a media interaction, Kohli explained that the call-up was "reward" for Ashwin for his performances in domestic T20 tournaments, and also an acknowledgement of the evolution of the T20 game.

"Ashwin has been rewarded for reviving his white-ball skills altogether," Kohli said. "[He bowls] with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket.

"If you saw the IPL in the last couple of years, he’s bowled difficult overs, he’s bowled against the top players in the IPL, and not being shy to put the ball in the right areas. Spinners can get intimidated by the way power hitters hit the ball, but Ashwin believed in his skill set.

"We felt like the way he was bowling and his variations now and his control over pace is something which is ... again a lot of experience, a guy who has played a lot of international cricket and he’s at his confident best. These guys can go in there and change the game with their spells."

In recent years, bowlers who can take the ball away from right-hand batters have been most successful in the shortest format. In the current T20I rankings, for instance, seven of the top 10 are either wrist-spinners or left-arm orthodox spinners. One is a mystery spinner. However, this might be changing, with off-spinners like Ashwin ready to bowl in the Powerplay overs, and especially strong against left-hand batters.

Ashwin has been rewarded for reviving his white-ball skills altogether.

Until now, said Kohli, "Wrist spinners were the ones in demand, mostly through that middle period, but now the finger spinners with that accuracy have come back into the game again, so we also have to evolve as a team with the evolving trend of the game.

"With Ash and the likes of [left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja] as well, performing beautifully … These guys can be very consistent."


==

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard agreed with Kohli's assessment. For the defending champions, Roston Chase comes in as an off-spin option after strong performances in the Caribbean Premier League over the last couple of years, with Fabian Allen as another finger-spin option.

"At one point in time, the wrist spinners used to dominate," Pollard said. "You want a right-arm wrist spinner or the left-arm back-of-the-arm [unorthodox bowler]. But in the recent past, for whatever reason, I don’t know if it’s conditions, finger spinners have come back into favour.

"They have more control in different situations and difficult situations as well, as to where they want to put the ball where it’s actually needed. So if you want a guy to consistently bowl to a bigger side of the ground, and you have a finger spinner bowling there, he has more control.

"For us, we have a couple of finger spinners in our armoury and hopefully we can maximise the dimensions of the ground and whatever spin is there, at whatever given time, we can use that against the opposition."

 

[UzmanBeast]

From what Kohli was saying today, there is very little swing on offer in UAE so apart from out and out speed merchants and spinners, I dont see too many wicket taking options.

So which spinners are likely to be most effective on these pitches?

Where did Kohli make these statements? Does anyone have the link to the press conference?

 

[UzmanBeast]

Its going to be a spinners tournament. We have een over the years how Pakistan has dominated here with spin. Even the likes of Hafeez would open their spells here in test.

But you need to understand that when we talk about spinners, it should be those who actually spin the ball and not those line and length bowlers who offer no break.

People have been saying that Pakistan is in an easier group, while i disagree. Our group is difficult because remember only 2 toppers will make it to the semi finals and in our group we have got 2 teams that have got good spinners.

The first is offcourse India. India is packed with 6 spinners, and 3 of there spinners can actually spin the ball instead of throwing line and length. UAE, especially Abu Dhabi is gonna be a crucial wicket. Plus, the bowlers who bowl line and length end up being dangerous when they have proper spinners to assist them on the other hand.

The second team is Afghanistan. Afghanistan has the worlds best spinner called rashid khan, but they habe another spinner called mujeeb ur rehman. They did a mistake by sending qais ahmad back, but stil they have Nabi with them. AFG problem is that they dont have good coach or captain who can guide them. They keep making the mistake of opening the bowling with Mujeeb ur rehman. He should be used in the middles.

Pakistan's issue is we dont have the spinners. We have shadab,nawaz and imad, but these bowlers are not spinning the ball alot. They bowl line and length which shadab misses alot. This is why Pakistan is in abit difficulty.

Even NZ could be dangerous because they got santner, and medium pacers do well in sharjah aswell which NZ has got. I think they made a mistake by not adding colin de granhome.

Anyways, if Pakistan losses to india, than we have to come up with a good strategy against afg. We cannot take afg lightly. Against Afg, we cant risk playing haider ali or the young guys. Afg would be the dark horse

Hafeez, Shoaib, imad waseem and even asif ali should play the Afg game as hafeez and shoaib play spin well. Asif ali is known for attacking rashid khan, infact he was the only player in psl who was brave enough to go after rashid khan in uae. Imad waseem can play well against the afg bowlers as we saw in the past.

For us it might be abit difficult, but if we use our Uae experience right we can make it to the semis

Nawaz is a decent spinner of the ball, but the others have no skills in that department.

Nawaz and Hafeez would be the best spinners on offer for Pakistan.

 

[MenInG]

Where did Kohli make these statements? Does anyone have the link to the press conference?

I listened to it today - he was talking about Bhuvi:

==

DUBAI: India captain Virat Kohli believes swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will prove quite a handful with the new ball in the Twenty20 World Cup beginning on Sunday, and said off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's fearless bowling will boost their title hopes.
Going by the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, swing bowlers could struggle to get any movement on the low and slow pitches in the UAE.

Kumar has built his reputation around his ability to swing the ball, but Kohli said the 31-year-old had other tricks up his sleeve.

"His economy rate still continues to be top notch, something that he's always been known for, and his experience comes to the fore under pressure," Kohli said at a pre-tournament media session on Saturday.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...nd-fearless-r-ashwin/articleshow/87065771.cms

 

[Major]

Nawaz is a decent spinner of the ball, but the others have no skills in that department.

Nawaz and Hafeez would be the best spinners on offer for Pakistan.

Nawaz doesnt really spin, all he does is drift the ball. That could be done by imad waseem to.

Shadab will keep on messing up his lengths..

 

[UzmanBeast]

Nawaz doesnt really spin, all he does is drift the ball. That could be done by imad waseem to.

Shadab will keep on messing up his lengths..

Nawaz can still spin the ball from time to time, whereas Imad cannot.

 

[sweep_shot]

They should play the most crucial role.

I expect them to dominate.

 

[Firebat]

Quite depressing that Pakistan don't really have a premier spinner who can actually spin the ball - a Rashid Khan or Adil Rashid.

We will get nothing from Shadab's 2 half-trackers per over.

 

[drubwrubnat]

Spinners will do very well, but they are a liability if bowling in powerplay or death overs.

 

[MenInG]

Teams would have seen the Scotland v Bangladesh game with great interest!

 

[MenInG]

Shakib could be the top wicket taker in this tournament.

 

[pratiktc]

Think the spinners will be declawed in 2nd inn with dew. Will be very hard to bowl 8 or more overs of spin unless someone is a new ball roller ala Hafeez

 

[MenInG]

It is no secret that two cricketers who have been the focus of the Indian medical staff are Varun Chakravarthy and Hardik Pandya. While Varun’s knees are a cause of concern, the medical team has also been looking to get Hardik bowling ready. And it looks like the team management is looking to use Varun judiciously.

Speaking to news agency ANI, sources in the know of developments said the team management in consultation with the medical team has decided it is best to keep Varun as fresh as possible and use him in crunch games. “He is undoubtedly a match-winner in this format and the leadership group knows what four overs can mean in a big tournament like the T20 World Cup. The medical team has been working closely with him and Varun will be used judiciously. He is a trump card and Virat Kohli and the leadership group is looking to use him just like that,” the source said.

Asked if that means he could be kept away from a game if the stakes aren’t high, the source said: “Yes, that is exactly what the idea is. While the team is looking to have his services as much as possible, it is also clear that his knees aren’t a 100 per cent. So, he will be used as per the demands of the tournament. If it is a must-win or big game, you will see him out there weaving his magic with the ball. If the team is well placed and you can afford to give his knees a bit of a rest, the team might do that. But yes, MS Dhoni and Ravi Shastri will be right there to guide Kohli and Rohit Sharma in such a scenario.”

India will open its T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on Sunday (October 24) in Dubai. While India won both their warm-up games – the Men-in-Blue defeated England by seven wickets while the side registered an eight-wicket triumph over Australia – Pakistan batting consultant Matthew Hayden on Thursday said that the T20 World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be a ‘dogfight’, and one team would not run away with the game.

https://zeenews.india.com/cricket/i...-for-virat-kohli-in-crunch-games-2404612.html