England and swing bowling go hand in hand. What the eventual champions India had in their arsenal other than three wiry quicks — Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma — were quality turners of a cricket ball.
Sunil Subramaniam, former Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner and bowling coach of off-spinner R. Ashwin, revealed the art of a spinning ball under frosty conditions that helped India stay undefeated in the tournament.
Sunil said, “The important thing that a spinner must do is to assess the conditions before drawing out a plan. In England, the air is thin. Under those circumstances the ball comes out of a spinner’s hand a bit slower than what it would in the sub-continent. Therein lies an opportunity to deceive a batsman.”
The fact that the Indian spinners Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared 20 wickets is staggering when the preferred mantra for most sides was seam and swing.
It’s not only the wickets that mattered but the economy rate at which they bowled and the amount of spin they imparted that made India look like they were playing at home.
“New balls from either end did the trick for the two spinners. A new ball spins a lot in that sort of a Birmingham wicket than an old ball. Also a 20-over-a side contest meant that the ball was bound to be shiny throughout the innings. This enabled them to grip the ball better. Whatever the conditions, one must have the class to exploit them. Tredwell hardly spun the ball while the Indian duo did the damage,” added Sunil.
While Ashwin has proved his mettle over the past year and a half with, Jadeja has been a revelation in the Champions Trophy. Following his heroics with the ball in the home series against Australia, Jadeja has fooled many a batsman with his straighter one as well as the sharp turner going away from the right-handed batsmen.