Sri Lankan great Muralitharan believes no competition for India's R Ashwin in Tests
By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 21, 2022, 3:03 PM ISTIndia has plenty of options in its spin department regarding the limited-overs formats. However, Ravichandran Ashwin is peerless in Test cricket and feels Muttiah Muralitharan.
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan feels that the quality and depth in Indian cricket's white ball ecosystem are so pleasing that the country has formed an outlandish talent pool in the Twenty20 (T20) format. The owner of 800 Test wickets and the most incredible off-spinner of all time made his point with an observance that a bowler of the calibre of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin labours to make it to India's playing XI in the limited-overs format. Ashwin, who nearly has 450 Test wickets, is back in the white-ball mix after being in the wilderness in shorter formats for over three years.
"There are too many quality options in the Indian cricket system. There is very stiff competition among the top Indian spinners in white ball cricket. There isn't much competition in red-ball cricket, as Ashwin is on top. He is peerless. The moment we turn to T20, because of IPL, we see too many talented options as so many matches are being played. That certainly speaks about the depth of Indian cricket. So, when you get an option to compare his exploits with others and the opportunities to play T20Is get shared," Murali apprised PTI in an interview.
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One of the greatest proponents of doosra (the wrong one), Murali never compromised on his core potency, which was a big off-break that he could spin at the right angles by taking the track out of the equation. So, are off-spinners using too many carrom balls in white-ball cricket?
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"You can't bowl just carrom balls. You have to mix it up. Even during our times, we used floaters with conventional off breaks. You can't bowl the same ball repeatedly, as batters tend to read you well. To stay on top, you need to have enough variations in your bowling," wondered Murali.
Off-spinners vs left-handers? Murali desires flexibility
Since the birth of T20 leagues globally, the cricketing term in vogue is the word "match-ups"- a skilled player pitted against an opposition player of another skill, like an off-spinner against left-handers. Murali, however, doesn't believe in that idea.
"Never believe this concept that an off-spinner will only be effective when a left-handed batter is in operation. That's not the mindset you should have when you go out there. Even if there is a right-hander batting, you should have the skills to get him out. The skipper should also believe that his off-spinner could do the job," defined Murali.
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Finger spinners will never go out of fashion in T20Is
During the Ravi Shastri-Bharat Arun age, one saw the advent of "Kul-Cha", the two wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav enjoyed a suitable degree of success before both slumped in form. There were talks about whether finger spinners were going out of tone. Ask Murali and he would repudiate such theories.
"Spinners will always remain special bowlers in T20 cricket. All these T20 leagues won't be what they are if there were no quality spinners in each team. Finger spinners, if you mean off-spinners, will never go out of fashion in T20 cricket," Murali discerns. A good leg-spinner requires an excellent skipper to bloom, but does the same hold correct for an off-break bowler?
"I won't say a good off-spinner would always need a good captain. A captain has to think about all 11 players, including him, but the primary requisite of an off-spinner will always be talent," presented Murali.
A tournament win can't heal wound of a nation
Sri Lanka recently won a significant trophy in Asia Cup after eight years. While Murali considers that Sri Lankan players have every right to celebrate the conquest, he doesn't accept that a sporting triumph can cure the scars of what his country went through due to the democracy collapse.
"I wouldn't say a victory in a cricket tournament can heal the wounds of a nation. Sport is different, and the nation is different. Just like every nation goes through rough times, our cricket also went through a bad patch and is now going in the right direction," Murali thinks.
Murali contradicted a comparison between the current side with the past ones when he was an active player. "In our era, we won a lot of games and subsequently a lot of tournaments like the World Cup, Asia Cup and a lot of trophies. For us, Asia Cup was another Cup. But, I must say, for this team, pushed back by everyone, winning after eight years is a great thing," he supposes.
As far as Dasun Shanaka's leadership is concerned, he termed him a "good captain". But, as he concluded, he didn't forget to count that "a captain is as good as his team".
(With inputs from PTI)
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