Suryakumar Yadav's unique prep for Usman Tariq's mystery spin

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav was seen emulating Pakistani spinner Usman Tariq's unique bowling action in the nets to help his batters prepare for the mystery spinner ahead of their crucial ICC T20 World Cup clash in Colombo.

Suryakumar's Hands-On Preparation

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, in an incredible example of leadership, was seen helping out his batters for the battle against spinner Usman Tariq ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup clash at Colombo on Sunday. In a video posted by the ICC, Suryakumar was seen bowling to Rinku Singh in a manner similar to Usman's, pausing before delivering the ball, but he was not bowling with a sidearm action. While he could not replicate the bowler's action perfectly, the intent behind tackling his mystery spin was visible without a doubt. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ICC (@icc)

Tariq's mysterious sidearm action, which pauses as well, will be something cricketers, fans, and experts will have their eyes on. The nature of Usman's action, particularly its sidearm delivery combined with a brief pause, has led fans and experts to speculate whether he is chucking or throwing the ball.

The Usman Tariq Factor

Usman, 28, has taken 11 wickets in four T20Is at an average of 7.90 with a four-fer to his name. In the T20 WC 2026, Usman Tariq featured in the match against the USA, where he claimed 3/27 in 4 overs.

'He is a trump card for us'

Ahead of the clash, Tariq's captain, Salman Ali Agha, termed him as his side's "trump card" and tried to shift the scrutiny away from the spinner.

"You all have made Usman Tariq a big name. For us, all 15 players are important. He has been bowling well. You can definitely say that he is a trump card for us. He has been cleared by the ICC, so I do not understand why everyone is discussing him. Usman doesn't get affected by these things. He is fine. He doesn't care about these things," Agha said.

'We Cannot Just Surrender'

On the other hand, the Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav acknowledged that Usman could be an "out of syllabus bowler" but the Men in Blue "would not surrender".

"See, sometimes there is a question in the exam as well, which is out of the syllabus. So, we cannot leave that question. To tackle that, you have to try something. You have to adopt your own way. And we try the same way," he said.

"Yes, he (Usman Tariq) is a different character when he comes to bowl. But at the same time, we cannot just surrender. We practice with a similar type of bowlers and with similar actions. And we will try to execute what we are practising in the net sessions during the match," he added.

India's Spin Challenge

However, with Pakistan featuring a spin attack consisting of Abrar, Usman, Salman, Nawaz and Saim, India will have a tough examination to face, given they have not had the bestest record against spin this tournament so far, with figures of three wickets lost and 42 runs made against USA in eight overs against spin bowling and 61 runs made in eight overs against Namibia, but having lost five wickets to tweakers in these overs.

Squads

India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar

Pakistan Squad: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan(w), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay.

(ANI)

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