Published: Jan 09, 2017, 06:43 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 09, 2017, 06:43 PM (IST)
Sydney (PTI) Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey feels Adam Zampa‘s approach to bowling reminds him of the great Anil Kumble, even as the young leg-spinner made a strong case for his selection for the upcoming tour of India with some impressive performance in the sub-continent last year. A no stranger to Indian conditions, Zampa starred for Australia in the ICC World T20 last March and competed in the Indian Premier League alongside captain Steve Smith for Rising Pune Supergiants. In 11 limited-overs matches on the sub-continent for Australia, the 24-year-old has taken 18 wickets at an average of 16.11. Zampa feels that world No.1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin doesn’t want to give too much away.
“Kumble was a lot taller but not a big turner of the ball and had a lot of success bowling in that manner. Kumble is a legend of the game so it’s a bit premature to compare the two, but the style of bowling is certainly very similar so you can make some comparisons there,” Hussey was quoted as saying by ‘cricket.com.au’.
“I think the way Ashwin bowled in the nets, you ask someone like Smithy (Smith) or guys that you can tell he’s going to come up against in international cricket. I think there was one net session to Smithy where he just bowled leggies for an hour. I don’t think he (Ashwin) wants to give too much away,” the leggie said.
Zampa isn’t too perturbed by criticism around his inability to turn the ball too much.
“I know a lot of people say ‘he doesn’t spin the ball enough’ and all that junk. I don’t really see a difference if the ball goes under the bat, over the bat or next to the bat,” he said.
“People have a lot of criticism on that side of my game but there’s other ways of taking wicket than being a big spinner of the ball.
“A lot of people have been talking about my first-class statistics and all those things, but if I was given the opportunity, the way I bowled in Sri Lanka particularly and I know it’s Twenty20 cricket but during the IPL, the respect I’ve gained from those countries and the players now I think I would suit that role,” Zampa said.
