ICC World Cup 2019: Spinners yet to deliver on World Cup promise

Not all of those young fans were successful in getting selfies with Khan, who had to be rushed to the dressing room.

Last month in Visakhapatnam, ahead of his team Sunrisers Hyderabad’s playoff tie against Delhi Capitals, Rashid Khan could have easily passed off as an India star with a group of youngsters thronging the Afghanistan leg-spinner. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi (L) and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (R). (AFP)

Not all of those young fans were successful in getting selfies with Khan, who had to be rushed to the dressing room.

The fan-following hinted how Khan’s success in IPL as well as other leagues around the world has turned him into Afghanistan’s first cricket superstar, and made him the main reason why fans expected Afghanistan to cause an upset or two at the World Cup.

Quiet Cup so far

But five games into Afghanistan’s campaign, that hope has vanished; Khan has taken a serious hiding—his three wickets at an average of close to 75 at the World Cup is a world away from the 17 wickets he picked up at 22.17 at the IPL.

“This is a sort of a reality check. It is not easy to bowl on the batting-friendly wickets like those dished out at the World Cup,” says former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh, who was known for his tight bowling and agile fielding. “At the international level, you are bowling to the six best batsmen of a country, unlike the IPL. Also, Afghanistan’s fielding isn’t as good as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s. That can also affect the bowler’s confidence.”

Khan benefitted from the wickets he played on at the IPL, especially at Hyderabad, which offered grip and turn to the ball. He also had quality backing from Sunrisers’ other bowlers, including Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who could apply pressure from the other end.

That hasn’t happened at the World Cup.

But it’s not just Khan—there has been a sharp decline in the performance of all spinners.

Pacers successful

Before Wednesday’s game between South Africa and New Zealand, nine of the top 10 wicket-takers of this World Cup were pace bowlers; South Africa’s Imran Tahir being the sole exception.

Compare that to the list of top wicket-takers in ODIs in the four-year period between the last World Cup and the start of this one: Three of the top five bowlers were wrist spinners. The inevitable conclusion was that the wrist spinners will be game-changers at this tournament. While that has not happened, there is good news for India—so far, India’s wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have managed to keep their bar high.

Singh believes that the best way to succeed on these English pitches is to bowl with a big heart (or jigra as it’s more expressively known in the subcontinent); spinners have to be brave.

Both Chahal and Yadav have been just that—brave. They have stuck to their variations, tossed the ball up with flight, and tried to outsmart batsmen. Chahal has managed to pick up six wickets, at an average of 27.66 and a miserly economy of 4.75.

Yadav has not been as effective, and came into this World Cup down on confidence, but in India’s last match against Pakistan he sent the Indian crowd at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester into delirium with a ball for the ages.