Think BCCI should have a spin-bowling coach, it will help young spinners, feels Maninder Singh
Chahal and Jadeja have struggled in AUS ODIs thus far
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Former Indian spinner Maninder Singh has opined that BCCI should give a thought about having a spin bowling coach like fast bowling coach as it will help spinners do well. He added that you can't leave spinners on their own thinking they know all just because they are playing at the top-level.
Indian spinners have looked hapless so far in the first two ODIs against Australia, which the hosts have won comfortably to seal the series. Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal have looked ineffective when fast bowlers have failed to create pressure upfront. In fact, this has been a difficult year for Indian spinners in ODIs. In 2020, Chahal and Kuldeep have taken seven and five wickets respectively in four ODIs at 37.86 and 53.20 while their economy rate has been above 6.6 runs per over. Jadeja, on the other hand, has six wickets in eight games at 68.33 with a better economy of 5.26.
Indian spinners have been far from effective like they were once with Chahal and Kuldeep running a riot in 50-overs format that helped India win ODI series in South Africa and New Zealand respectively. Former Indian spinner Maninder Singh reckons that BCCI should have a spin-bowling coach, who can guide the young spinners as they are struggling big time.
“These youngsters need to be looked after and someone needs to be there who talks with them all the time. You cannot leave them thinking that just because they are playing international cricket so they would know everything,” Maninder told Hindustan Times.
“Unfortunately the Indian team only has a fast bowling coach. It is very difficult for a fast bowling coach to understand the problems of a spinner. A spinner like me can understand where Kuldeep is going wrong or what areas Chahal needs to work on but a fast bowler won’t be able to identify those minute details. I think BCCI should think about having a spin-bowling coach, it’ll be a big help to the young spinners."
Maninder, who featured in 26 Test matches and 35 ODIs for India, wasn't sure how much time Ravi Shastri, a former left-arm spinner himself, could spend with spinners and outlined rhythm as paramount to spinners' success.
“Ravi Shastri is in the team. He was a left-arm spinner but with all the planning involved, I don’t know how much time he can spend with the spinners alone.
“If spinners don’t have rhythm they have nothing so being in rhythm is very important. When a spinner starts his run-up, his bowling starts then and there, if the run-up is not right and there is no rhythm then the ball won’t come out of the hands the way the bowler wants it to,” added Maninder.
Covid-19 has forced ICC to ban the usage of saliva so that there are lesser chances of spread of the deadly disease. It has been considered as a major blow to fast bowlers, however, Maninder claimed it impacts spinners too and not just pacers when they want to 'swerve' the ball.
“It’s a myth that only fast bowlers require saliva. When a spinner wants to swerve the ball or get a better drift in the air to fox the batsmen, he needs one side rough and the other one heavy or shiny. I used to take a lot of help by keeping the rough side inside the palm. Nowadays spinners like to do the opposite but by keeping the rough side inside the palm, I used to get that extra drift. You might get the drift with an old ball without rough and shiny sides but it won’t be enough to deceive the batsmen.
“It is just like reverse swing. It happens late and when the spinner is bowling, it doesn’t start drifting from your hand but when it goes near the batsman, it suddenly dips and slants in more,” said Maninder.
