The sheer dominance of leg spinners and a resurgence of leg spin in Indian cricket is delightful to watch. Two bowlers bowling the same craft, looking mirror reflection of each other and beating batsmen in flight and off the wicket is a thing of beauty. If the Indian fast bowlers were the dominating force in test cricket( they did take 60 wickets right? ), the spinners have just made the one day game their own.
Leg spin is a hard craft, it takes a toll on your shoulder, it is hard to control( frequently you will give a full toss to the batsman at a gentle pace ) and if you do not have the variations, the batsmen will soon figure you out; and in one day cricket, it will limit your worth to the team. However, leg spinners are also natural match winners, there is something special watching a leggie bowl, much like a fast bowler tearing down at 145+ click. The leg-spinner is cunning, he sets up the batsman, makes him comfortable and then deceives him. Even a full toss is a wicket taking delivery, as many club cricketers will tell you.
To appreciate it, just look at one dismissal from yesterday's game, look at the first wicket , Kuldeep took of Markram, he was totally flummoxed by the wrong one and Dhoni made an easy stumping. They really makes the batsman look stupid, and in the one day game, where the batsmen are partying hard always, it levels things up.
It is heartening to see that both Kuldeep and Yuzvendra are courageous to flight the ball and also mix their variations and bowling to the field. The South African batsmen are unable to figure out the googlies and flippers from the hand, and reading off the pitch is, well too late. I am interested to see how they play in England this summer, against a dominant one day team like England.
