New Delhi. Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan believes that spinners in the Indian Premier League are not trying to turn the ball because they have not learned this art since childhood and it is not easy to learn it during the tournament. Muralitharan said that nowadays spinners do not learn the art of spinning the ball and making the batsman think, their focus is only on stopping runs through variations.
Muralitharan, who took 800 wickets in Test cricket, said, ‘The situation is the same for spinners in domestic cricket also. When we used to play cricket, the first objective of the spinner was to turn the ball. Nowadays this is not necessary because everyone does not want to play Test cricket, everyone wants to play ODI or T20.
want to avoid getting out less
Muralitharan said that at an early age, spinners focus on fast bowling or variation and do not try to turn. Because this habit is not formed since childhood, it becomes difficult to turn the ball at the age of 18-19 years. He said, ‘You should learn to spin from the time you are 10-12 years old. That’s how we learned.
Like today’s spinner throw down
Muralitharan said that batting against spinners in IPL is like practicing against a throwdown specialist, you just have to come in line and hit. He said, ‘If you are a good spinner and can turn the ball then you have a chance to defeat the batsman. But if you cannot turn then the batsman will hit sixes just like they hit on throwdown in practice.
If we had been there, we would have been able to swing the ball but we would have got beaten.
Muralitharan said, ‘It is very difficult to teach spin bowling, it should come by itself. But when players come to the professional level, it becomes difficult to improve. When asked what he and Shane Warne would have done if they had played in today’s era, Muralitharan said, ‘We would have turned the ball but it would not have made much difference. One or two wickets would have been taken, but the batsmen would have scored 40 runs comfortably because the pitches were very good. He said, ‘Shane Warne was also amazing because he could rotate the ball. But now the game has changed, we cannot compare with the old times.
Everyone should have a chance on the pitch
Muralitharan said that it is important to make the right pitches to equalize the competition between bat and ball. But if this happens then the audience will get bored because today’s cricket fans want to see only fours and sixes. He said, ‘This is just entertainment, the aim is not to make a cricketer right now. This is a big business, sponsors etc. are all involved. Muralitharan expressed hope that the bowlers will also make a comeback in a season or two.
