Back in 2005 when T20 was conceived, there was a common consensus that this version could spell doom for the spinners as they would be cannon fodder for the big-hitting batsmen as their slow pace would make life a party for these blokes with huge willows and with small boundaries.
Cut to 2017 and things have turned around almost like a scripted thriller, the potentially discarded entities have come roaring back and have forced the so-called belligerent batting crowd into submission. Yes, we are speaking about the art of leg-spin and this ongoing edition of the IPL is a testament to the prowess of the wrist spinners.
Few would argue the fact the leg-spin is a form of art and when on the full flight one can just sit back and watch them unravel their repertoire of mystery commodities. It is a difficult one to master but then what is success without a sense of difficulty and this is what makes them such joys to watch.
Today leg spinners are sought after by almost every team and there is a reason for this sudden spurt in interest. The primary one being the fact that they are wrist spinners and more often than not will get the ball to turn on any surface and this plants a seed of doubt in even the best of batsmen as they are not quite sure about the turn on offer.
Secondly, almost all leg spinners have a plethora of varieties up their sleeve and this prevents the batsmen from lining them as if they are not sure about which way the ball would turn they cannot pick up the spots and hit the ball in those areas.
The art of enticing batsmen into a sense of false security by tossing the ball up high in the area and then bamboozling them both in the air and lengths is one of the joys in cricket. And then there is the knack of imparting revolutions on the ball which helps in drift and turn, commodities which are enough to not only contain runs but pick up wickets.
Players like Samuel Badree, Amit Mishra, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Imran Tahir have established themselves as match-winners and it is not very difficult to decipher why.
There will be days where they would go for plenty of runs but then you take the risk with reward. Leg spin is an aggressive art and hence when they flight the ball there is always the risk that the batsmen will go after them, but herein lies the chance of conning them and dismissing them.
For instance, why is Rashid Khan, the young leg spin bowler from Afghanistan garnering so much hype? He is a talent but then he is befuddling the batsmen with this art and it is not only a joy to watch but also very heartening.
Talk to any batsmen, they will concede that there is an inherent joy in stepping out to a leg break bowler, getting close to the pitch of the ball and then smoking it over the fence. This underlines the impact of leg spinners and the clout their exercise over the game.
Never say enough goes the adage, it almost looks tailor made for these magicians with the wrist fizz!
