Pakistan's champion leggie Mushtaq Ahmed, who is a spin bowling consultant with Delhi Daredevils, has said spinners are playing crucial roles in the sixth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).
"I think spin bowling is important. Lots of teams are winning games because of the spinners. So I believe, because spinners have more variations like they have a carrom ball, a doosra, a googly, they have a flipper and a top spinner, they are playing a huge role in T20," Mushtaq told IPLT20.com.
"Lots of people used to think less of spinners, but now they have changed their opinion, that less pace you have the more difficult it is for the batsmen to hit sixes. Spinners can pick up wickets in the middle, which is a crucial time in T20."
Mushtaq was impressed with the performance of some of the spinners in IPL.
"There are plenty of them who have been impressive, (Shahbaz) Nadeem is bowling very well, Jeevan (Mendis) is there, Johan Botha is there, (Roelof) van der Merwe is there, (Pawan) Negi is there. Plus opposition spinners like (Amit) Mishra, Harbhajan (Singh) and (Pragyan) Ojha - all those spinners are playing a huge role," he said
Being a leggie, Mushtaq said leg-spinners are in huge demand.
More From This Section
"Nowadays people are looking for hard-hitters, the fast bowler who can swing or reverse-swing and bowl the Yorkers. But I think in the last two years, if I can be honest with you, people are looking more into the leg-spinners, to go and find and protect them," he said.
"I always give this example. Leg spinners are like a tree, if you can protect the tree and if you are a good gardener, you can grow the tree and for the rest of your life have the fruit and shade," he added.