Enjoying a gruelling Ranji Trophy final between his ‘home’ teams, Saurashtra and Bengal, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here, Dilip Doshi, a noted left-arm spinner of his time, shares his thoughts on the changing shades of the game, including the trade he pursued with passion.
Acknowledging that spin bowling has been deeply impacted by T20 cricket, Doshi feels young bowlers shouldn’t be playing the shortest version of the game.
Sticking to strengths
“If a young spin bowler coming to the fore sees every ball being hit, he will fall to being defensive. He will bowl quicker and will completely lose his action,” Doshi told The Hindu .
Spinners need to stick to their strength, he said. “If you have been picked as a spinner, then you got to make sure that you are spinning the ball,” he says.
Citing the example of Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, one of the finest practitioners of the trade at present, Doshi says, “If you are that passionate about maintaining your art, you will find a way to accelerate.”
About the current scenario, he says, “Spinners hardly spin the ball. I cannot call somebody a spinner unless he spins the ball. Otherwise, he falls into the category of a slow bowler. Probably there is too much of coaching.
“Like fast bowlers who are born, (high quality) spin bowlers are born too. It is a natural gift and it is passion that takes them to the top spot. Technique in spin bowling is practically non-existent today.
“Very few spinners have a follow-through… To deliver a spinning ball you got to have a follow-through, which actually makes the ball dip in flight and that’s missing today.
“That’s because most spinners today are open-chested. When you are open-chested, the follow-through is next to impossible,” he said.
Guidance
In Doshi’s view, young spinners are not guided well.
“They don’t even know their fault. The problem is very few people around are able to detect it. Otherwise, India is the home of and nursery for spin bowlers.
“I have not seen a high quality spin bowler in a long time? I don’t know why! It’s not simple to sum it all up in one sentence,” he said.
