India spinners bring aggression with their slowness

India

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David Miller’s dismissals in both the ODIs look different, but there is a common thread to them. And it not the bowler, who was Kuldeep Yadav in both cases.

In Durban, Miller hit Kuldeep straight to short midwicket; in Centurion, the dismissal was more comprehensive: caught at slip as Miller drove. In both cases, though, Miller met the ball far in front of his body. These balls didn’t drop on Miller alarmingly, he had finished his bat swing by the time the balls arrived. Consequently he didn’t play them under his head, and failed to control the shots.

Look at a typical speed pitch map of India’s wristspinners, who have now sounded out a major warning to all the teams in the world, especially after doing well in South Africa too. Hardly any ball bowled by Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal is faster than 55mph. They usually range between 48.5mph and 54.5mph. Imran Tahir, by contrast, swings between 53mph and 63mph. Sometimes Tahir’s slowest ball in a spell is the same as India wristspinners’ fastest.

Turns out, in this world of heavy bats, thick edges and small grounds, this slowness is a problem for the batsmen.

“I’m actually pretty amazed by how slow they can actually bowl,” Dale Benkenstein, South Africa’s batting coach, said after India took a 2-0 lead in the series. “And obviously if you’re a wristspinner and you bowl slow, then it turns on any surface. But I think because of the slowness, there are also scoring opportunities. I’d rather that we look at that than just plodding around.

“The challenge lies in the fact that they bowl very slow. Our spinners bowl very fast. On domestic wickets, we bowl pretty quick, and it’s so much easier to get runs. To be fair, in South Africa we don’t get a lot of spin. So, this is obviously an issue. And I think it’s time to try and introduce into our normal everyday practices to keep playing spin. They’re obviously very confident against the seamers. I guess it might take a little bit of time.”

Despite years of spin bowling being reduced to a chore of not letting batsmen get under the ball, Chahal and Kuldeep are inviting them to get underit. They back themselves to do enough with the ball to induce mis-hits and get wickets. And wickets is what they, and their captain, are after.

Chahal, who claimed his maiden five-for in the Centurion ODI, has trained himself to bowl slow against some of the biggest hitters of the ball at the tiniest graveyard for bowlers; Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, he sees it more as changing the pace rather than just bowling slow.

“Playing on flat tracks, you have to vary your pace,” Chahal said. “You cannot bowl at one pace. There is bounce available on these pitches. If you bowl fast, the ball won’t turn and it will come on to the bat. That’s why Kuldeep and I vary our pace.

“Especially on these grounds and wickets, you have to bowl a little slower. The ground is very small, and they have big hitters. As spinners you can’t bowl faster, otherwise they will play you as medium pacers. There are times when we have to bowl fast, but that depends on the situation. We have to read the situation.”

The slowness is a means to an end. The idea is to pick up wickets in the middle overs, which is what India missed before Chahal and Kuldeep were introduced to replace the two best – at that time – Test bowlers in the world. “Whenever Kuldeep or I come on to bowl, we are only thinking about taking wickets,” Chahal said. “That’s why we are in the team, to take wickets in the middle overs. We don’t mind giving away 65-70 runs in 10 overs but if we can take two-three wickets that’s more helpful from our point of view. If we take wickets in middle overs then only the other team will be under pressure.”

Virat Kohli’s unflinching belief in them helps. Kohli said he didn’t expect the pitches for ODIs to have any seam movement – which hardly happens anywhere – and he backed his spinners to turn the ball on any hard surface. Both Chahal and Kuldeep say they have been told by the management that runs don’t matter, that they have to go for wickets. “Chhakka khake dikha [show me how to get hit for a six],” as the wicketkeeper tells you in all the maidans in India.

“I go for wickets, I flight the ball,” Chahal said. “I know it can go for six too, but when your captain and your team back you, it gives you the confidence to do it. Virat bhaiya[brother] lets us take the field we want. He tells us it doesn’t matter if we are hit for a six, we must bowl to our strength. If your strength is to flight it, then flight it. When your captain tells you that, you don’t have to worry even if you have been hit for two or three sixes.”

It’s easier said than done, though. When you are being hit for boundaries, it is easy to forget these principles. “This is a routine for me,” Chahal said. “In IPL, if I go for 40 runs in four overs, even then I should feel that I have been hit on good balls. It shouldn’t be that I am bowling to escape cheaply. That is my strength, and that is why I am in the team.”

These two delightful spinners are almost a forced gift from India to world cricket. When there was clamour for wristspinners well before Champions Trophy, India kept on going with reputation and possibly didn’t want to give out a debut in the Champions Trophy. In times when aggression can easily be mistaken for posturing and only pace, these India spinners are being aggressive with their slowness. And they have full backing from the management.