‘Has to develop more variations’: Sivaramakrishnan on what India spinner needs to do to be more effective
In his last four ODIs, Kuldeep has picked up five wickets, while giving away 55, 65, 62 and 84 respectively off 10 overs.
Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav needs to add more variations in order to be more effective in international cricket. Kuldeep, the only Indian bowler to bag two ODI hat-tricks, has developed a knack of giving away runs, and in order to regain top form, Siva reckons, the left-arm wrist-spinner needs to add further dimensions to his bowling.
“He has to develop more variations. He has got a good deceptive googly, but he has to develop a top spinner,” Siva said during an online chat with WV Raman in the latter’s show ‘Inside Out’.
In his last four ODIs, Kuldeep has picked up five wickets, while giving away 55, 65, 62 and 84 runs respectively off 10 overs. Kuldeep aces the flipper and the googly, but can do with adding another stock ball to his repertoire: the arm ball or the top spinner.
“When you bowl a top-spinner it’s not only over spinning but also dips on the batsman and has an extra bit of bounce. The top spinner instead hits the top of the bat. Developing the top spinner is not difficult because the wrist position is between a googly and a leg break so much easier to demonstrate and it just needs a bit of patience and hard work to bowl the top spinner,” Sivaramakrishnan added.
The former leg-spinner stressed a wrist-spinner’s ability to give the ball more air, rather than darting them on to the batsmen. “Modern day spinners bowl quicker the moment they are hit. That means the ball will come on to the bat nicely. When a fast bowler gets hit, he bowls slower deliveries to take the pace off the ball,” Siva said.
