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Former England ball-tweaker Graeme Swann decoded the reason behind off-spinners' ineffectiveness in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the tournament heads towards its business end.
Off-spinners have struggled to impress in the current season, and wrist spin dependency has increased heavily. Ravichandran Ashwin, a magician in the craft of off-spin, was dropped by the eliminated Chennai Super Kings in the middle of the season. While Kolkata Knight Riders' premier spinner Sunil Narine and Rajasthan's Maheesh Theekshana rely on their mystery spin. On the other hand, all-rounders Will Jacks and Aiden Markram have been used as match-up options against the left-handed batters. "The reason there's not that many off-spinners playing is that there's just not that many around at the minute in world cricket," Swann says. "It's not because off-spinners haven't got a job to do. Part of the problem for a lot of off-spinners is this match-up thing that all teams buy into now - the idea that you can't turn it into the batsman," Swann said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. "Actually, because people now only face the ball turning away from them, people have got used to it. I swear, if a good off-spinner came in now... If they'd played Mo [Moeen Ali] all season at KKR, I reckon he'd kill it, because people have lost the ability to manoeuvre the ball as well. After a few years, it'll revert, it'll come back. But everyone is obsessed with wristspin," he added. Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Riyan Parag tonked five consecutive sixes off Moeen on Sunday, highlighting the majority's woes. As a real dearth of frontline off-spinners prevails in the ongoing cash-rich league, Swann feels their struggle comes down to their unwillingness to attack. "People aren't prepared to rip the ball. The way you deceive people is not through darting it in. You have to be brave and be willing to get hit for a six, but you've got to dip the ball. And the only way you get a dip is by putting a lot of revolutions on the ball," he said. "If you're spinning it hard and getting it to dip, you'll get wickets. You might get hit for the odd boundary, but you will get wickets - especially against new batsmen. And let's face it, everyone gets hit for six now in T20. Expectations have changed. When I played, if you got 2 for 30, it was an abject failure, because you wanted to keep teams down at 140-150. Now, it's great." (ANI)
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