Image Credit- ICC
During Australia’s Dharamsala training session, a
coach would periodically go to the rear tent where the net bowlers were sitting
and indicate for a left-arm spinner. Nearly all batters were asked to face
left-arm spin or desired to face it.
That shouldn’t be shocking. Australia’s left-arm spin
caused them to fall behind South Africa and India in their two World Cup
losses. In Chennai, Ravindra Jadeja managed to end their innings with Steven
Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, while in Lucknow, Keshav Maharaj had numbers of
10-0-30-2. Now, Australia will face Mitchell Santner, one of the top bowlers in
the competition, who has taken 12 wickets at an average of just 4.25 runs per
over. The only player with more wickets taken than Santner is Adam Zampa, but
he hasn’t had the same level of control.
Santner lacks Jasprit Bumrah’s delayed release,
Kuldeep Yadav’s wristspin, and Marco Jansen’s height. He is a fingerspinner who
has played defence for far too long; because of pitches with some purchase at
this World Cup, he is now like a child in a candy store. During this
tournament, Santner has drawn a false reaction per five balls, which is
relatively similar to Kuldeep’s average and trails only Josh Hazlewood, Bumrah,
and Maharaj, who have been drawing false responses every four balls.
Santner’s speed variations are largely responsible for
his longevity in limited-overs cricket. Perhaps more than any other spinner, he
can vary his tempo from less than 70 kph to approximately 105 kph without truly
finding a “stock speed”. Upon closely observing him, one can fully
grasp the elegance of his release points: he releases early to bowl more slowly
and accurately, yet he holds back when attempting to bowl more quickly and into
the pitch.
The circumstances at this World Cup have contributed
to Santner’s cunning, and what better occasion than this to discuss his 100th
ODI? He reflected on how much more he needed to grow after playing his first
international match shortly after the World Cup in 2015.
Vettori is an assistant coach in the opposition camp
now. An opposition that is sweating on just his kind of bowling even though the
conditions in Dharamsala might be more conducive for seam bowlers. That is
tribute enough.