Not many leg-spinners have Test ambitions these days: Sivaramakrishnan

Leg-spinners would form the core of a team’s attack in the past. But since the retirement of legendary Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, there has been less impact from leg-spinners in the gruelling Test format.

“I don’t see too many leg-spinners have the ambitions to play Test cricket, they’re quite happy with playing white-ball cricket. It really pains me,” Sivaramakrishnan, himself a former India leg-spinner, said in a virtual interaction.

“I’m really disappointed with the kind of results that the leg-spinners have shown. Basically, because they are only successful in white ball cricket when batters are looking to attack, they get wickets.”

Sivaramakrishnan, who has played nine Tests and 16 ODIs for India, said the quality of a leg-spinner can be tested only when he plays in a Test with three close-in fielders.

“In modern day cricket, all these leg-spinners have been successful, only because the batters go for big shots, and make the mistake. I don’t know if I can remember when a leg-spinner played a Test match (for India).”

Amit Mishra was the last leg-spinner to play Test cricket for India in 2016. The story is similar in world cricket too as the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa (Australia) and Adil Rashid (England) are mostly preferred in white ball formats.

Blaming it on reversing the ball, he said: “A lot of reverse swing has ruined the careers of some of the spinners overall. Because the old ball is now being used for reverse swing and one of the spinners that miss out maybe the leg-spinner. So the onus is on the captain to manage his bowler.”

Sivaramakrishnan, who made his India debut as a 17-year-old during the tour of West Indies, said the initiative has to come from the cricketer. “They should have the mindset to bowl even if they go for a boundary, to flight the ball if there’s nothing in the pitch then deceive him in the air.

“If the pitches are good, you have to have a lot of variations and to bowl with accuracy and bowl in the right zones. I think the modern day leg-spinners do not have that. I don’t see any leg-spinner in the world having that kind of control.”

He said a leg-spinner has to be ready to bowl long spells, for which he has to do hard practice at the nets. “If you have to bowl 180 balls, you have to work really really hard. You can’t just bowl 30-40 balls and run away.”

Sivaramakrishnan is part of the Tamil Commentary Panel for the upcoming Ashes Tour on SONY TEN 4 from December 8-January 18, 2022. He said newly-appointed Australia captain Pat Cummins would have a tough time managing the team and himself during the Ashes.

“Being a bowler, it’s not easy for Cummins because he will not only have to manage himself but the other other bowlers.”

Cummins was named captain for Australia’s Ashes defence against England after Tim Paine pulled himself out citing “mental health break” in the wake of his text message scandal.

“He’s got a lot of work to do. Generally if the batters does the captaincy, it’s a lot easier for the bowlers. This particular Australian team under Pat Cummins, how they are going to prove themselves and if they get the Ashes, is a big, big mystery, and we’ll have to wait and see,” he concluded.

The Ashes get underway at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 8.