Almost 50 games into the 2019 IPL and the flavour of this season undoubtedly have been the wrist-spinners.
On Tuesday night in Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals’ Shreyas Gopal took a hat-trick vs RCB and further proved this argument. The match, although, didn’t yield any result due to rain, but Shreyas Gopal etched his name in the history books.
With the help of hi 3 wickets against RCB, Gopal is now also the second-highest wicket-taker of this IPL with 18 scalps to his name.
Apart from Kuldeep Yadav, most of the wrist spinners have been able to restrict the run flow or take wickets.
Such has been their success this season, that captains aren’t afraid to field as many as two leg-spinners in their playing XI. The reason behind their success can also be attributed to the increase in temperature.
As the level of heat increases, the wicket becomes increasingly dry and drier wickets tend to provide much more turn than usual wickets.
While Kagiso Rabada ( 25 wickets ) is the leading wicket-taker this season, the rest of the list is filled with wrist spinners.
Going by these numbers, wrist spinners have been doing a perfect job for their teams. Apart from being among the wickets they have also been very economical.
The Reason For their Success
Kuldeep Yadav’s ball turns into the right-hander, and that makes it easier for the batsmen to play him. Contrary to this, the rest of the bowlers have used variations to perfection.
These bowlers have bowled most of their deliveries in the good length area, which has allowed the ball enough time to turn. This, along with the increasing heat have provided the bowlers with conditions conducive to their style of bowling.
This is the reason why most of the batsmen have found it difficult to face them. Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Mohammed Nabi have also performed reasonably well throughout the tournament.
But as far as leg-spinners are concerned, they have been bowling on a completely different level.
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