Indian team needs a spin bowling coach, suggests Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, India walked into the competition with as many as two leg-spinners - Yuvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav with Ravindra Jadeja becoming the third spinner. During the long home season post the strenuous World Cup, Tamil Nadu spinner Washington Sundar and Rajasthan's Rahul Chahar was added to the fore, in a four-men spin setup in the limited-overs squad for the national team. 

Despite the presence of four spinners in the setup, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan dejected looking at the spin bowlers in the country, reckoned that the country lacks top-class spinners on the domestic circuit. On top of that, the former Tamil Nadu spinner suggested that the Indian national team needs to have a spin bowling coach. 

"I think India need a spin bowling coach," he told Indian women's team coach WV Raman during a chat show ‘Inside Out', reported Times of India. 

"The current lot is trying but after this I don't think we will get good spinners in India," he warned.

The leg-spinner also pointed out to the defensive captaincy mindset which has hindered the progress of spinners. He reckoned that captaincy has become negative in terms of not giving away too many runs, keeping it tight instead of being aggressive and picking up wickets. Contrasting his playing time to the current one, the spinner compared how slips and forward short-leg are missing from today’s game. 

"Captaincy has become negative in terms of not giving runs and keeping it tight. You don't get to see attacking field position to a spinner bowling. That means you are waiting for the batsman to make mistakes and fall in the deep and not in the slips or forward short-leg. In that way I feel spinners are being ignored," he stated.