spin

A few days ago, I had the privilege to listen to an interview with one of the great unsung heroes of Cricket, Terry Jenner, coach of the legendary Shane Warne. Wasim Akram and Ravi Shastri conducted an absolutely fascinating interview with him.
Spin bowling, on the face of it, seems simple. I mean, how difficult can it be to gently lob a 5.5 ounce mass of cork, string and leather over 22 yards. Therein lies the challenge, though. While fast bowling is the ‘yang’ of bowling, spin is its ‘yin’. Guile, subtlety and uncompromising pursuit of mastery of this art define any successful spinner. I particularly enjoyed Jenner paraphrasing Bishan Singh Bedi, ‘spin is in the air, break is off the wicket’. How absolutely bang on spot! It got me into thinking why Harbhajan Singh is no longer the force that he once was. Romesh Powar and for that matter, even Sehwag look more dangerous than Harbhajan. I believe this is because he seems to have lost all his guile through the air. Warne was so successful because apart from his variations, big spin and accuracy, he did a lot through the air as well. His curve and dip was phenomenal, something that Harbhajan had, but seems to have forgotten.