Three months before the famous Dubai Shopping Festival, when the shopping cognoscenti of the world descends, the sun-drained metropolis would behold a pageant of spinners at the Dubai International Cricket stadium, in lieu with the proud spin traditions of the two fierce rivals, India and Pakistan
On a likely slow, sluggish surface, they would unbox a fusion of the most diverse array of spinners around. If India could brag about the guileful trifecta of Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel, with part-time sidekicks in Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, Pakistan could flaunt their own crew of Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammed Nawaz and Saim Ayub. Collectively, they broadly cover all genres of spin bowling invented or imagined in the game. Save for classical leg-spin.
For the first time in the storied history of these sides, two left-arm wrist spinners would tilt lances. Kuldeep is the most celebrated among them, with his variations, control and understanding of the craft. Muqeem is younger and greener, and does not turn the ball as extraordinarily as Kuldeep does. But he coaxes adequate turn both ways and is terrifically precise with his length, even though his lines could at times go awry. For any bowler, significantly a wrist-spinner, an economy rate of 6.09 runs is gold. A wicket-taking yet restrictive wrist-spinner is a rare cocktail.
But compared to Kuldeep, Muqeem has a higher and straighter release point, and hence the effect of drop more exaggerated. The natural tics makes him difficult to sweep. But the release also handicaps him from getting the curve when drifting the ball into the batsman, as Kuldeep manages. Owing to the natural dispositions, Muqeem does not tease batsmen into doom, but rather ties them down and induces a mistake.
Both teams have two unorthodox leg-spinners too, Varun and Abrar. The latter has a mixture of leg-breaks and googlies flicked out from the front of the hand through a strong middle finger. His former England coach Paul Nixon used to call him Harry Potter. He has shed the glasses that stirred the comparison, but not the wizardry. His leg-break counterpart Varun could be equally puzzling riddle for batsmen. He has more strings on his bow, bolstered by the carrom ball, the seam-up teasers and better control.
Letting the more exotic species flourish around them are the orthodox left-arm spin merchants, Nawaz and Patel. Both are masterful at tying an end up by, predominantly sticking to suffocating lengths, as well as varying pace, angles and release points. Similar in the portfolios, energetic on the field and resourceful with the bat, comfortable at bowling in any passage of the game, they nearly cancel each other out in their usefulness. Pakistan coach Mike Hesson recently labelled him as the world’s best spinner. Not to be drawn into comparison, India’s assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate dead-bats: “Everyone has their opinion, but just happy that we have Axar, Kuldeep and Varun.”
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The spin, he believes, would play a pivotal role in the tournament. “I think spin is going to be very important in this competition. If anything I don’t think it’s gripped as much of it was anticipated. It is certainly not like we came earlier in the year. But spinning in general has become a very important part of the teams. Both teams have lots of them,” he explains.
The rest are a motley band of part-timers, but not to be taken frivolously. Saim Ayub, as he displayed with the new-ball against Oman, has a fizzing carrom ball. The off-break skids on. On lethargic surfaces, it could be difficult to pound him for boundaries. India too could dial the part-timers like Abhishek and Tilak. Abhishek possesses the old-fashioned under-cutter that could hurry batsmen. Tilak’s off-spin is rarely resorted to but he had an extended spell during the optional practice session.
Historically, Pakistan have been home to inventive spinners whereas India have raised classical varieties. Pakistan possessed goblin-like dervishes like Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed while India regaled in the spin quartet’s classicism. If Saqlain Mushtaq invented the doosra, Harbhajan Singh practised it with telling success and Anil Kumble piled on wickets with his subtle variations, grit and graft. The lines of contrast are blurring, homogenised in a sense by the shortest format
Co-relatedly, the proficiency of batsmen to not only repel spinners but also attack them would be put to test. Mohammad Haris, the Pakistan’s No.3 batsman who top-scored against Oman, said the fortnight-long stay in the Emirates has accustomed to the spin caprices. Mohammad Haris, one of the architects of the victory over Oman, listed out their recent conquests on spin-blanched decks: “We went to Dhaka and put up 180. No other team has managed 180 in Mirpur if you check. We scored 180 in the West Indies as well, and 200 in Sharjah.” The contest, thus, would not only be about who bowls best but also which batsman beats the spin web most effectively. The festival of spin is here.
