Ajanta Mendis, the man who brought into vogue carom ball in the arsenal of a spinner to bamboozle batsmen around the world seems to have found his old magic once again. In the opening match of the T20 World Cup yesterday against Zimbabwe, he scalped six victims to bundle out Zimbabwe for paltry 82 runs. Along with Jeevan Mendis the spinner duo of Sri Lanka scalped 9 of the 10 victims of Zimbabwe. These are best figures that Ajanta Mendis has got in the 20-20 World Cricket overhauling his earlier best of 6 for 16 against Australia to 6 for 8 against Sri Lanka.
Will spinners dominate in the World T20 Cup in Sri Lanka?
Earlier in the practice match between India and Pakistan R. Ashwin had also shown the signs that indeed spin could be a veritable option for the teams if they want to stake the claim for the trophy. However, the ability to spin the ball would not be the criteria,as it was demonstrated by Pakistan against Harbhajan Singh. If a batsman is inclined to use his feet and come forward as Pakistani batsmen in general were doing, and Kamran Akmal in particular did, then the effect of spin is negated to a large extent.
But the moot point is, how many batsmen are there in the present day cricket who can read the ball in the air and come forward to hit it out of the park? Harbhajan Singh has got a new lease of life in his cricketing career and he would not get a better platform to reclaim his old glory. But the same can only be achieved if Harbhajan Singh tosses the ball up and allow it to spin.
There is a lurking fear at the back of his mind, that if he gets hit he may have to sit out. But as Bishen Singh Bedi says, if a spinner is not able to bamboozle the batsman through his wizardry of spin, then he better sit out. Harbhajan Singh has to rise to the challenge and not bowl flat. He had shown the brilliance in the recently concluded IPL tournament when he was leading the Mumbai Indians, but as he went for containing the run, he started getting hit.
India’s chances of winning the T 20 World Cup to a large extent would depend upon the magic that Harbhajan Singh is able to weave in tandem with Ashwin, and if he does then India would be one of the strongest claimants for the cup.
Tags: Ajanta Mendis, Cricket, R Ashwin, Spinners, Sri Lanka, World T20 Cup
