The best T20 teams have spinners who can bowl anytime in the game, observes Samuel Badree
Former West Indies wrist-spinner Samuel Badree reckons that the top T20 teams in the world at the moment are the ones that have spinners who can bowl at any stage during the game. Badree believes that modern spinners focus on pace through the air and accuracy more than a loopy trajectory.
Remember when New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe made a revolutionary decision to open the bowling with a spinner in a one-day match? Yeah, that’s normal practice these days. However, the same was not generally true for T20 cricket where, in the first six overs, the field restrictions allow the batsmen to go hard at spinners in particular. The man who crossed that horizon and paved the way for a new system was none other than Badree. With 96 wickets and an economy rate of 6.20 in Powerplays, the man from Trinidad affected the shortest format of the game in a major way. Spinners are now used by captains not just in the initial phase, but also at the death as well.
“The perception gradually changed based on the success some spinners had in the Powerplay and some even at the death. I remember Sunil Narine bowling some death overs even in the early stages of the IPL, and Gautam Gambhir used him as a death bowler [at Kolkata Knight Riders]. That changed the perception about where spinners can bowl. If you look at T20 cricket around the world, the most successful teams are the ones with quality spin bowlers who are dynamic and versatile, who can bowl through any stage of the game,” Badree told ESPNCricinfo.
So, what changed in the years since T20 cricket was founded? What have spinners done differently to challenge hard-hitting batsman to think twice before going berserk? Badree reckons it is a change in attitude that he has observed increasingly among the younger generation of spinners.
“It's the element of doubt that spinners bring. They say all they need is one leg-spin delivery to turn to just bring that doubt in the batsman's mind. Otherwise, most of their deliveries are either going straight or coming back in the opposition direction. The younger generation of spin bowlers are not necessarily looking to turn the ball as much, but they are looking at getting more pace through the air and at accuracy. They bowl wicket-to-wicket, trying to get the lbws and bowleds,” Badree said.
At present, the T20 specialist has been hired by the IPL franchise, Delhi Capitals, as the spin-bowling coach – quite possibly the first of his kind in world cricket.
“My job is trying to get the spinners who bowl in the Powerplay to be brave and accept the fact that it is not always going to work out in their favour but to be prepared for that difficult task. It is about helping them understand, to be open, to be big-hearted, courageous. My role is to try to prepare the spinners mentally, more than technically, for the challenges that T20 brings. At this stage in a guy's career and at this level, it is difficult to technical inputs,” Badree added.
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