If the value of wrist spin in T20 cricket ever needed fresh endorsement, the Sunday afternoon game between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians provided it in ample measure. On a placid surface at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the figures of the two wrist-spinners—Delhi Capitals’ Kuldeep Yadav and Mumbai Indians’ Murugan Ashwin—read 4-0-18-3 and 4-0-14-2 respectively. The other Delhi bowlers conceded 158 runs in 16 overs for two wickets while the rest of Mumbai’s bowling attack copped even greater punishment, leaking 161 runs in just 14.2 overs for four wickets.
It once again underlined why wrist spinners are so sought-after in the shortest version of the game. Yadav, in particular, must be chuffed at delivering in a winning cause in his first game for a new franchise. He had cut a disconsolate figure in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) dugout towards the latter stages of his stint at the franchise, owing to a loss of form and confidence. While his 2020 campaign was just limited to five matches out of a possible 14 and a solitary wicket, he didn’t play a single game in 2021. He was kept out of the playing eleven during the first half of the season in India before a knee injury ruled him out of the second half in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It was only last month that Yadav returned to action after a prolonged layoff, in an ODI against West Indies in Ahmedabad where he picked up two wickets. He played just one other T20I against Sri Lanka during the home season, even as India skipper Rohit Sharma extolled the left-arm wrist-spinner’s ability while maintaining that his return to the fold will be a gradual process.
{{/usCountry}}It was only last month that Yadav returned to action after a prolonged layoff, in an ODI against West Indies in Ahmedabad where he picked up two wickets. He played just one other T20I against Sri Lanka during the home season, even as India skipper Rohit Sharma extolled the left-arm wrist-spinner’s ability while maintaining that his return to the fold will be a gradual process.
{{/usCountry}}There was no better way to show his readiness than by making an impact against the Sharma-led Mumbai Indians at the start of a new season. They were motoring along at 53/0 in six overs when Yadav was introduced into the attack by Rishabh Pant. A tendency to bowl the odd boundary ball has let him down in the past, but there were no generous offerings on Sunday. Instead, what was apparent were his immaculate lengths and subtle variations in pace. After conceding just three runs in his first over, he removed Sharma off the second ball of his second over. While Yadav’s slowness in the air has sometimes been held against him, he pushed this one through. The flatter trajectory deceived Sharma into believing that the ball was short when it in fact pitched on a good length, and he went back in an attempt to pull.
Sharma’s mistake proved costly as all he managed was to pick out Rovman Powell at deep midwicket. Anmolpreet Singh, of course, seemed to have no clue against Yadav’s wrong ’uns and was swiftly out of the way. But Pollard’s dismissal in Yadav’s final over was another tick in the box for the 27-year-old, pushing the ball through quicker in the air to get the towering Trinidadian caught at square leg.
“It’s all about the mindset. He was struggling in the IPL as his place was not secure for KKR. He was not sure whether he will play all their matches,” Delhi Capitals teammate Axar Patel, who made an unbeaten 38 off 17 balls, said on Sunday. “The way (head coach) Ricky (Ponting) and Pant have extended support to him, he can give his best. Even during practice, we tell him that he can do well. It’s about that surety. He has got that mental shift that he will play all matches, so he is able to give his best.”
While Ashwin doesn’t attract the same attention as Yadav, his opening game for Mumbai Indians is likely to do him a world of good too. Like most bowlers belonging to his tribe, Ashwin’s googly is his go-to wicket-taking delivery, illustrated in his dismissal of Tim Seifert when the New Zealander was going all guns blazing.
A consistent performer for Tamil Nadu in white-ball cricket, the 31-year-old leg-spinner hasn’t had that breakout IPL season that can propel him to greater heights yet. He had a noteworthy season with Punjab Kings in 2020—returning 10 wickets in nine matches—but fell out of favour last year.
“Both Kuldeep and I had a very good game. With wrist spin, there are a lot of things we can do off the wicket. We can use our variations. Both of us hit the right lengths and also bowled at the right speeds. It was a good wicket to bat on. We had to be precise enough to put the batters on the back foot and make them try something else. Both of us kept attacking the stumps,” Ashwin said after the match.
Over the coming days, other prominent wrist-spinners like Rashid Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi will get into the thick of the action. Expect them to make as much of an impact.