Canford Cliffs
Local Club Star
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2018
- Runs
- 1,803
Quality of the opposition need to be considered when we are rating a spinner. Anyone can pick bunch of wickets in Asian conditions against players who cant play. How they go against better players of spin or outside Asia is important. Its similar to how we judge a batsman how they perform in SENA.
Example - Likes of Shadab Khan and M.Nawaz were looking world beaters against Zimbabwe/WI etc. Then they met India in Asia cup and were treated like club bowlers. Similarly Mehdy Hasan could only pick 2 wickets after bowling 50+ overs against India in the Hyd test in 2017. Likes of Yasir Shah was taken for plenty in WC 2015 vs India.
So yes, we can hype up spinners all we want based on performance against weaker teams. But I refuse to accept a spinner as anything special, unless:
A) He performed against Indian batsman
B) Performed outside Asia.
Hence I rate Saqlain Mushtaq so highly because he did things against India that even Warne/Murali couldnt.
Example - Likes of Shadab Khan and M.Nawaz were looking world beaters against Zimbabwe/WI etc. Then they met India in Asia cup and were treated like club bowlers. Similarly Mehdy Hasan could only pick 2 wickets after bowling 50+ overs against India in the Hyd test in 2017. Likes of Yasir Shah was taken for plenty in WC 2015 vs India.
So yes, we can hype up spinners all we want based on performance against weaker teams. But I refuse to accept a spinner as anything special, unless:
A) He performed against Indian batsman
B) Performed outside Asia.
Hence I rate Saqlain Mushtaq so highly because he did things against India that even Warne/Murali couldnt.