Much like any other aspect in cricket, playing spin is an art perfected by only a few. There have been instances when visiting sides have found themselves in harsh waters under in subcontinental conditions – unable to cope with quality spinners on assisting tracks.
The Indian batsmen, overall, are brilliant players of spin. The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were exceptional against spin.
Albeit, the Indian batsmen are often found wanting against spinners lately. But modern-day greats such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma proved to be excellent players of spin, as concurred by wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
“Virat and Rohit are obviously quality players of spin bowling so they will be at the top. Also, Williamson makes life difficult for spin bowlers because he plays the ball really late, especially on a pitch that is slow,” Chahal said during an Instagram Live session.
Further into the conversation, Chahal recalled the time when he played against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. In that match, veteran Shoaib Malik stood tall against the wrist-spinning duo of Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
Malik’s exceptional skills against spin forced Chahal to draw comparisons with Steve Smith. According to Chahal, Malik is a better player of spin in comparison to Smith.
“I was bowling to Shoaib Malik during the Asia Cup and was impressed with the way he was taking singles of good deliveries. I realised that this player has a lot of experience and I think he is better than Steve Smith when it comes to playing spin bowling,” added Chahal.
With the entire side struggling to cope with ‘KulCha’, Malik was the lone warrior during Pakistan’s second encounter with Indian in the 2018 Asia Cup. He scored a valiant 78 in the match and watched other batsmen losing wickets at the other end.
