India vs New Zealand: Host’s wizardly spin attack to catch Kiwis in a spell

India's spin trio — Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin — will be keen to feed on New Zealand's weakness of playing against spin.

The ball will turn square. The bounce will be uneven. There will be rough patches. There will be loud shouts of ‘catch it’ and ‘howzat’. In short, spinners will have a grand time dictating terms to the batsmen. We will witness typical subcontinental wickets in the three-Test series between India and New Zealand. And more importantly, we will see typical fall of wickets: inside edge onto the pad with fielders hovering around to take a catch. One mistake, and the batsman will be done and dusted in no time. All the same, this series is indeed more about the spinners than the batsmen.

Spinners did make headlines, and they still do. But we do not see them in thick of things before the start of a series. It is only when they eclipse the batting unit that compels the cricketing fraternity to shed some light on their performance. Let us not deny the fact that better part of the spectatorship depends on the number of runs scored than the fall of wickets. And that is how cricket has evolved. Be that as it may, the scenario has changed now. The curators no longer dish out an absolute flat track. They devise a wicket that would assist the home team. This time, advantage goes to India, as the spin trio — Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra — will be keen to feed on New Zealand’s weakness of playing spin-bowling.

Variety in variety

An off-spinner in Ashwin, leg-spinner in Mishra and slow left-arm orthodox in Jadeja: India’s spin unit has an unmatched mixture. Two finger spinners and a wrist spinner: India’s spin unit boasts of craft and vigour. Two straight-arm actions and a round-arm one: India’s spin attack is likely to obliterate the Black Caps.

There’s more to it than it appears, as there’s variety in variety.

Ashwin’s workmanship does not even need an introduction. Tall in both height and stature, he has a number of variations in his armoury: stock delivery, slider and carom ball. Give his strong fingers, he can generate extra turn. A simple run-up and smooth jump sharpens his accuracy. As a result, he can do both: take wickets and maintain the economy.

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If the track does not provide turn, he spits venom through carom ball. No, it’s not a doosra. In fact, Ashwin’s action inhibits him from the moving his wrist. However, carom ball functions the same. It turns the other way, but is difficult to pick as the fingers stay behind the ball, without any wrist movement at all. It is flatter in trajectory compared to stock deliveries. The only way to read it is by the judging the flight.

When none of the above options work, he uses the slider. It is just a change-in-pace alternative. It is quicker and straighter, forcing the batsman to play for the turn. In addition, if the seam is upright with some wind around, the ball seems to swing a bit.

Then there is Mishra, who has both turn and zip. Given the nature of his spin, the task gets tougher for him to keep the runs flow intact. However, that still does not restrict him from taking wickets (of course, he is a leg-spinner).

What commendable is the way he makes full use of the crease. Sometimes close to the stumps and sometimes away from them, he compels the batsman to guess the amount of turn as well as the ball’s angle.

For example, he jumps away from the stumps, angles the ball in and takes it away from the batsmen. He does that for couple of deliveries and sets the batsman up: he jumps away from the stumps, angles the ball in, bowls the wrong ‘un and traps the batsman in front.

On the other hand, Jadeja’s action is no extraordinary. Neither are his skills. A simple round-arm action that produces normal turn and bounce. If truth be told, there’s nothing attractive about his bowling. But he takes the cake with his impeccable line and length. Like the old-school bowlers, he is disciplined. He can bowl in the same channel all day. He may bore the viewers, but is greatly effective. He can bowl long spells, without conceding a run. Yes, he can do it. He has done that many a time, in fact.

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In the famous Delhi Test between India and South Africa last year, he bowled as many as 17 consecutive maiden overs, missing Bapu Nadkarni’s record of 21 maidens.

He can outfox the batsman without any change in action or delivery. For that matter, Michael Clarke, Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla have all been victimised by Jadeja’s tricks: what seems like a stock ball turns out to be an arm ball and vice versa.

Though he can bowl an arm ball, some of his stock deliveries somehow happen to hold their line.

Numbers and experience

	M	W	BBI	BBM	AVG	ECON	SR
Ravichandran Ashwin	36	193	7/66	12/85	25.2	2.91	51.8
Ravindra Jadeja	17	71	6/138	8/76	23.42	2.24	62.6
Amit Mishra	20	71	5/71	7/72	34.36	3.14	65.4

These numbers speak volumes about the lethal trio. Let alone experience, seldom do they get injured. To put things into perspective, they have played most matches in India’s scorching heat. They field for long hours. They bowl long spells. They have no option but to be painfully patient, albeit playing in home conditions. And that is what Test cricket is all about: the unconquerable will to fight odds.

This is the might New Zealand will have to face. This is the variety they will have to combat with.

The only way to keep the spin attack at bay is by taking the bull by its horn. Once you let them take charge, they will abridge you to rubble.

Just like Luke Ronchi did in the practice match against Mumbai, the visitors need to approach the attacking brand of cricket. Yes, New Zealand will lose wickets in the process, but the important thing is to exhibit a brave show of character.

In addition, New Zealand must be mindful that Australia were whitewashed 4-0 in 2013; South Africa were smashed 3-0 last year. And it all happened because of India’s wizardly spin attack.

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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