Crucial passages of play have been dictated by spinners: Krishnamachari Srikkanth | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Former Indian captain and opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth is of the view that spinners dictating terms in the middle of the innings in IPL matches are having a long-lasting effect in the games.
In his column for the Times of India, Srikkanth wrote, “Without a shade of doubt, spin is emerging king in the cash rich league. Despite some of the tall scores and amazing chases, crucial passages of play have been dictated by the slow bowlers. Statistics might not reveal the bigger picture but the points table is a fair indication of spin power.”
IPL 2020 POINTS TABLE
Srikkanth cited the example of RCB leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who returned impressive bowling figures of 3/24 from his four overs to restrict Steve-Smith’s Royals to 154/6 while batting first in Dubai on Saturday.
“Bangalore have had a good run, thanks to the guile and craft of Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner backs himself to the hilt. Unless a bowler has a huge amount of confidence in his own ability, he can’t be throwing the ball up and inviting the batsmen to drive in a format that is heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen. The striking aspect of Chahal’s bowling is buying wickets. In my opinion the best way to curb run flow is getting batsmen out. Supporting him ably is Washington Sundar. In drying up one end, he forces the batsmen to take risks at the other and that ends in batsmen making mistakes,” Srikkanth opined.
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets, including that of the dangerous Aaron Finch, as the Virat Kohli-led side was all out for a paltry 109 in reply to KXIP’s 206/3.
“From the time ODIs started, spinners have had a huge role to play. Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq, Saqlain, Kumble, Warne and Murali have all had pivotal roles to play in limited overs cricket and the current edition of the league is proving the same. I enjoy watching the likes of Bishnoi, who are not overawed by the situation or the pedigree of the opponent. They go about their task well and that augurs well for Indian cricket,” Srikkanth added.
Rahul Chahar has been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians bowling attack that has had to cope with the absence of veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga this season.
“Mumbai, have been well served by Rahul Chahar and the tidy lengths of Krunal Pandya. Once there is pressure, its difficult to wriggle out. The only option is to hit out and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai that might not be a logical option either,” Srikkanth concluded.