Modern T20s a thorn on off-spinners’ side?
The recent pattern of the T20 game has seen wrist spinners gain more ground but the dearth of off-spinners in the shortest format has seen their roles come into question, whereas in ODIs the off-spinners are called to stem the flow of runs and also to lull batters to take chances against them, resulting in their dismissals.
As teams have begun to bolster their batting line-up with a healthy dose of both left and right-handed batters, the matchups for off-spinners have become a bit steeper.
Off-spinners, turning the ball away from left-handers had been one of the best matchups for some time but their numbers in the T20 game have been unimpressive. India coach Rahul Dravid talked regarding off-spinners' diminishing role during the press conference on Saturday, a day before the Pakistan-India match.
"We are lucky to have Ash [Ravindra Ashwin] who probably is the best in the world. I don't think there are too many…the offspinner from Hong Kong bowled brilliantly against us. He bowled upfront and then he bowled couple of overs at the death. He had a really good game," Dravid said about Hong Kong's Ehsan Khan.
'But yeah, you are right, not many people are playing the off spinners and they sort of prefer-leg spinners or wrist-spinners, who have obviously become very valuable in the T20 game for obvious reasons," Dravid agreed with the journalist asking the question.
"The fact that they [wrist-spinners] can spin it both ways, doesn't expose them to the left-handers or the right-handers as much as the finger spinners," Dravid added.
The presence of spinners like Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman or Maheesh Theekshana, known as 'mystery spinners', have gained serious traction around the world due to many batters failing to read their release from hand. Those kinds of spinners now play a big hand in matches going in their side's favour.
Mujeeb and Rashid Khan's success against Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup further reinforces that belief. Bangladesh, on the other hand, plays off-spinner Mahedi Hasan. While Mahedi is certainly is not a mystery spinner but has the death-bowling skill that gives him an edge in selection. Overall, however, off-spinners simply have a reduced role in current T20s.
Dravid was not sure whether it is a phase that will pass with time but from Bangladesh's perspective, it would be a positive to wise up on spinning options. For now, Dravid was happy to have the Ashwin option, even as the right-arm off-spinner is not playing too many T20Is for India.
"Maybe it's [lack of off-spinners] just a cycle or phase. Bangladesh plays Mahedi Hasan a little bit around the squads. Not really played the West Indies but they didn't have an off-spinner. England plays Moeen Ali. There are a few around, it's not like they are completely gone. We got one and we're lucky to get to play him. We know we got the quality and anytime we know someone like Ash can step in if required," Dravid said.