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A look at why Panesar and Swann have outbowled Ojha and Ashwin in India
December 13, 2012
There were times in India when the sight of a spinner running in to the
crease was intimidating for the batsman. The close-in fielders hovered,
standing by to take the catches that would inevitably be produced. Back
then Indian spinners sent out strong signals - that they were as lethal
as the Caribbean quick bowlers, and no second fiddles. Invariably
India's spinners were superior to those from other countries, and the
land of Bedi, Chandrashekhar and Prasanna kept producing quality
spinners, so much so that some of them didn't even play for India - for
these three kept going for years.
Today, though, even on wilting, dusty turners, Indian spinners don't
hold the same threat. For the longest time, dishing out a dustbowl
guaranteed success, for India's batsmen would score a mountain of runs
and the spinners would bowl the opposition out twice, double quick. But
since the retirement of Anil Kumble, things have changed.
The signs of the downward spiral have been there for everyone to see.
The lowest ebb has been reached in the ongoing series against England -
probably the first time in Indian cricket's history that a visiting team
from outside the subcontinent has had the services of better spinners,
and the decision to dish out a rank turner has been more likely to
backfire on India than guarantee success - as happened in Mumbai.
Why is it that Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann
are extracting a lot more out of the tracks than their Indian
counterparts? (Remember also that they're bowling against a batting
line-up that is known for its proficiency against the turning ball.)
Panesar has been the most impressive bowler in the series, operating at a
pace ideally suited to the tracks provided thus far. He bowls at least
10kph quicker than is usually recommended for spinners. While that extra
pace goes against him on good batting surfaces - because he doesn't
keep the ball in the air long enough to create deception - it's working
absolutely fine on slow Indian pitches. The extra pace in the air
doesn't allow the batsman the luxury of stepping out or of waiting on
the back foot. It is this extra pace that made Panesar unplayable at
times in Mumbai, because handling a viciously turning ball at high
speeds is extremely difficult.
If it was only about the pace, then why didn't India's spinners crack
the code and bowl quicker too? After all, how difficult could it be to
increase your pace as a spinner?
That's where the basics are important, for speed can work in your favour
only if the ball comes out of the hand properly, with enough
revolutions on it. That's precisely where Panesar has scored over Pragyan Ojha.
Panesar's action is that of a classical left-arm spinner, with the
bowling arm very close to the ear, which enables him to not only get the
wrist position slightly tilted (about 45 degrees) at the point of
release but also to extract more bounce off the surface with the higher
point of release.
He delivers from the middle of the box, which allows him to bowl a lot
straighter. Bowling closer to the stumps makes his arm ball a lot more
effective, for it is always pitching and finishing in line with the
stumps. Also, his follow-through takes him towards the batsman, which
means the body momentum is heading in the direction of the ball; that
translates into him getting a fair bit of zip off the surface.
In contrast, Ojha releases the ball from the corner of the box, and his
bowling arm is further away from the ear than in Panesar's case. Ojha's
position on the crease creates an acute angle, which might give a false
impression of the ball drifting in. It also means he needs a lot of
assistance from the pitch to generate spin off the surface to compensate
for that angle. His wrist position is slightly more tilted than
Panesar's at the point of release, which negatively affects not just
bounce off the surface but also his chances of turning the ball.
Finally, there's no follow-through whatsoever: Ojha stops as soon as he
delivers the ball, which indicates that his bowling is a lot about wrist
and shoulder instead of being about hips and torso as well.
Swann is technically superior to R Ashwin
too. His bowling is all about using every limb to impart more
revolutions on the ball. Since he plays most of his cricket on
unresponsive English pitches, he has learnt the importance of putting
revs on the ball every single time, which creates deception in the air
by making the ball dip on the batsman, and also produces bite off the
surface.
| In Test cricket there needs to be a stock ball that one should bowl, ball after ball. You need to create deception in the air by varying the lines and speeds ever so slightly | |||
Swann doesn't have too many variations; in fact he has got only two
deliveries - the one that spins in to the right-hander and the arm ball
that goes straight on. Having fewer variations has led him to become
more patient, and made him rely on changing the point of release, speed
and flight without compromising on length. He has struck a fine balance
between being aggressive and being patient.
His lines of operation to right-handed batsmen are slightly outside off,
challenging the batsman to play against the spin. Against the
left-handers, he bowls a lot closer, cramping them for room. Like with
Panesar, Swann's body momentum too takes him towards the batsman.
Ashwin, on the other hand, has a lot of tricks in his bag. He can bowl
the traditional offspinner, a doosra and a carrom ball at will, and with
a reasonable amount of control. His high-arm action gets him bounce off
the surface too. But while having so many options works wonders in the
shorter formats, where the batsmen can't line him up, it works against
him in Test cricket.
Wickets in Test matches are a result of setting up a dismissal, and for
that you need to be patient, almost bordering on being boring and
predictable. There needs to be a stock ball that one should bowl, ball
after ball. You need to create deception in the air by varying the lines
and speeds ever so slightly. The longer you keep the batsman occupied
with one kind of delivery, the better your chances of the variation
catching him off guard. Ashwin, with all the weapons in his armoury,
feels obliged to bring them out at regular intervals. This hampers his
consistency with line and length, and results in him offering up
boundary balls often.
Technically, while his wrist and arm position are good, like Ojha he too
doesn't put his body behind the ball as much as he should; he falls
towards the left after delivering the ball, instead of taking the
momentum towards the batsman.
The quality of India's spinners was one of the reasons the team became a
force to reckon with in Test cricket. The remarkable records at home
were all courtesy spin. India may have had a pantheon of quality
spinners but the current crop does not seem to have been able to master
the craft. There are plenty of former players around who were masters
of the skill. Time India got these veterans to guide the youngsters on
how to spin a web around teams again.