T20 World Cup Final: 'You don't see that often from a spinner' - Tendulkar makes striking observation about star bowler
The former Indian cricketer has made a shrewd observation about the leg-spinner’s bowling ahead of the titular clash between Australia and New Zealand on Sunday.
Amongst various other things, the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup has shown that leg-spinners are not going out of fashion anytime soon. The top-2 wicket-takers in the tournament so far - Wanindu Hasaranga (16) and Adam Zampa (12) - are leggies. Shadab Khan, Adil Rashid and Ish Sodhi – all leg-spinners – are joint-fifth highest wicket-takers with 9 dismissals to their names. Two of them, Zampa and Sodhi, will have a chance to further improve their ranking when Australia and New Zealand meet in the titular clash of the tournament on Sunday.
Australia’s Zampa has been a key part of the side – specifically during the middle overs of the game. With an incredible economy rate of 5.69, Zampa has deprived the opponent batters of a brisk scoring rate in his spells. His impressive bowling figures have drawn many admirers from the cricket fraternity – a more notable one being Sachin Tendulkar, who made an astute observation about the leg-spinner’s bowling style during Australia’s semi-final against Pakistan.
"I've observed one thing in Zampa's bowling. When the batter steps out, his release point is later. If you release the ball right above your head, it is more or less a good length ball. When the arms move further ahead and then you release the ball i.e. if the release point is later, the ball is mostly short-pitched. He was only releasing the ball later when the batter was stepping out,” Tendulkar said on a video posted on his official Facebook profile.
"And so, whenever the batter was stepping out, the delivery wasn't really in the hitting range. It was pitching short. And a bowler is only able to make that swift change in releasing point when he is in good form.”
Tendulkar further pointed out that Zampa was able to bowl ‘yorker length’, which, as a leg-spinner, is a difficult task.
"When the batter didn't step out, he was releasing the ball earlier. The delivery wasn't particularly pacy, but the length was fuller and I recollect a commentator saying that he was almost bowling yorker length! You don't see that often from a leg-spinner. It is a more common sight from a finger-spinner where they can dart the ball. It is not easy for a leg-spinner and I noticed that in Zampa,” said the former Indian batter.
