Ravichandran Ashwin takes dig at team’s perception around left-arm spinners as Mitchell Santner bowls just one Over in the semi-final vs Eng
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After three weeks of intense battle between top T20 sides in the world, the ongoing 2021 ICC T20 World Cup has reached towards its business end- the Semi-Final stages.
The Kiwi skipper- Kane Williamson was lucky with the Toss and following the trend, decided to bowl first against England, whilst going with an unchanged side which competed in the last group stage match versus Afghanistan.
After a cautious start, and some brilliant bowling with the new ball by the Kiwi pacers, England posted a decent total of 166/4 after the allotted 20 Overs, on the back of Moeen Ali (51* off 37) and David Malan (41 off 30) stitching together a decent partnership of 63 (44).
But, it was India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who stepped in via his social media handle to spark an argument in his bid to address a perception issue, which perhaps needs to be addressed especially in the shortest format of the game.
Ravichandran Ashwin takes dig at team’s perception around left-arm spinners
Ashwin questioned the T20 teams’ perception around the left-arm spinners which makes them believe that they it is perhaps a sin to bowl the leg-break bowlers, especially the left-arm spinners in front of left-handed batters.
It all happened during the 10th Over, when the New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson decided to bowl his part time off-spinner- Glenn Phillips, as left-handed Moeen Ali joined David Malan- another left-hander at the crease.
As the popular perception goes, Williamson decided to not bowl his left-arm spinner anymore during the entire innings, as Malan-Moeen kept batting till the 16th Over, while stitching a 63-run partnership in the process.
Ashwin questioned the perception that deems the teams to believe that left-arm spinners are going to get beaten black and blue with left-handed batters farming the strike- even if he/she is new to the crease.
Ashwin took a dig at this perception stating that it is as if Mitchell Santner has not dismissed a left-hander ever in his career. He also added that Phillips leaking as many as 11 runs in his solitary Over might even turn out to be a deciding moment in the match.
2 lefties — so bowl a keeper who can bowl a bit of off spin and bowl santner for 1 over 8 runs. Santner has never got a left hander out in his career🙈🙈 #perceptionsaboutthegame . Hope those 11 runs won’t be a deciding factor🤟#matchups
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 10, 2021
And for all those who will come to create a war between individuals, let me tell you this is a perception challenge that a spin bowler is living with. It’s a challenge all around the T 20 game. #spinbowlerslife
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 10, 2021
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