Spinners will struggle in World T20: Prasanna

Bangalore: Despite the part-time spinners making an impact in the on-going Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa, former Indian spin legend Erapalli Prasanna has warned that even the specialist spinners would struggle in the World Twenty20 to be held in England from June five.

"The respective captains of the national teams should not get carried away with the spinners’ success in the on-going IPL because the England weather and the conditions will not suit a spinner to run through a side as easily as they have been doing in South Africa.

"The lateral movements in England will help a seamer more than the spinner. So even a single spinner could turn out be a luxury during the mega event," Prasanna told Cricketnext.com on Friday.

"On the more helpful South African wickets, a spinner has a fifty-fifty chance of getting the batsman out but on England wickets it would be difficult to tie-down the batsman resulting in uncertainty in the minds of spinners. Only a spinner who is confident of his ability can out-think the batsman’s intentions if not he will certainly go for runs," Prasanna added.

"However, this does not mean that a spinner will not have any say in the World Twenty20. All I am saying is to succeed in a Twenty20 tournament in England, a spinner has to vary his flight and trajectory all the time and depend mainly on variations. A fastiesh type of spinner can also restrict the batsmen some what but he should not be predictable or else he will go for runs," observed the former Karnataka star.

Complementing former Indian skipper Anil Kumble’s superb bowling and captaincy which saw underdogs Royal Challengers Bangalore make it to the third spot on the final standing, Prasanna said, nobody imagined that the Bangalore team would finish where they have at the end of the league stages.

"Anil has been a real revelation in this tournament as he has managed to knit a side which was down morally after the initial thumping it got from the other teams. He has led the team from the front and seems to be enjoying his bowling as well as his performance speaks for itself," he said.

"Nobody gave the Bangalore side even a semblance of a chance to make it to the semi-finals after their performances before Kumble took over. An intelligent and cool headed captain like Kumble can play a big role in shaping his team’s fortunes," noted Prasanna.

When asked about the reason behind part timers making a big impact in the IPL, Prasanna said, the batsmen’s mind-set in this shortest form of the game and the two phased wickets in South Africa were the main reasons for even the part-time spinners to succeed.

"Basically the mind-set of a batsman in the Twenty20 match is to hit every ball they face as there is no room for them to settle down before attacking the bowlers. So psychologically and practically a spinner will have a better chance of getting the batsman out as no batsman can keep middling the ball and is sure to miss hit at some point of time," explained Prasanna.

"Secondly, the two phased nature of the South African wickets at this time of the year has also helped them (part-time and specialist spinners) to succeed as the element of doubt in a batsman’s mind has only resulted in half-hearted shots being played right into the fielders’ hands or missing the ball completely for the wicketkeepers to do the Rest," Prasanna added.