Varun Chakravarthy’s contrasting performances across formats recently, from dominating the IPL to facing challenges during the T20 World Cup despite finishing as the joint-highest wicket-taker, underline a deeper truth about spin bowling in T20 cricket – mystery alone isn’t enough.For former India leg-spinner Amit Mishra, the issue wasn’t about Chakravarthy being “decoded” but about execution under pressure.“In the T20 World Cup, Varun was using his skills a bit incorrectly,” Mishra told TimesofIndia.com. “He started bowling a bit too fast, leaving his strengths. In the IPL (last year), he used to bowl one slow ball, one top-spin, one googly, and one leg-spin. He wasn’t doing that under pressure (in T20 World Cup) when runs were being scored.”
Mishra pointed to a shift in approach rather than a dip in ability. “You need someone to tell you, to explain. Everyone knows execution is important, that’s why I say stick to your strengths.”
The rise of mystery spinners in T20s
From Sunil Narine and Ajantha Mendis to Abrar Ahmed and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, mystery spinners have become central to T20 cricket’s evolution.Since the format’s introduction, such bowlers have had an unprecedented impact. The addition of the Decision Review System (DRS) has further aided their success, giving umpires more confidence on marginal calls.Yet, traditional spinners – those who rely on spin, dip, and a dependable stock ball – continue to remain relevant.Mishra believes that despite the growing obsession with variations, the fundamentals of spin bowling remain unchanged.“Simple bowling in T20 means that when you already have some help from the pitch, you shouldn’t try too hard for wickets,” he said.“If the pitch is helping, simple bowling means sticking to your good areas, sticking to your strengths. If it’s going well, keep bowling at that pace until it’s necessary to change. When the batsman is struggling, you don’t need to change much.”For a bowler who claimed three IPL hat-tricks, Mishra’s definition of ‘simple’ stands in contrast to the modern demand for constant deception.
T20 cricket: batters game?
Having witnessed T20 cricket and the IPL from its early years, Mishra sees a clear transformation in batting.“Indian players now have a variety of shots like the reverse sweep, paddle sweep, and switch hit, which we earlier saw mostly from foreign players. Now, Indian players have these shots too. It’s become more difficult for bowlers,” he said.The shift, he believes, is as much mental as technical.“Power encompasses everything. If you put pressure on the bowler in the first 12 balls, it puts them on the backfoot. That’s a mindset change.”This evolution has tilted the balance further towards batters, with totals of 190 or 200 and now even 250 becoming routine in the IPL.Even so, Mishra insists that spinners should not abandon their natural strengths.“I’ve always said I stuck to my strengths and made variations. My strength was spin and dip, that’s what I did. You have to know your bowling strength. A spinner’s job is to spin the ball. You should know how to spin it.”
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Do match-ups really matter?
On the growing reliance on data-driven match-ups, Mishra pushed back against rigid templates.“I never believed a left-arm orthodox spinner can’t bowl to a left-hander or an off-spinner can’t bowl to a right-hander. If you have the skills, you can do it. If you lack skills, then you need to enhance them.”For him, adaptability outweighs preset strategies.“You have to develop understanding, develop your skills, and variations.”He pointed to Rashid Khan as an example of consistency in approach. “Like Rashid Khan, he stays around 100, that’s his strength. He doesn’t leave it.”Looking ahead to young spinners in the IPL, Mishra avoided naming individuals but warned of the challenge that follows a breakthrough season.“When you are new, people haven’t seen much of you, so you have more chances to perform. But now, I want to see what changes they have made in their bowling this year, what mindset they have brought, what they have enhanced,” he concluded.
