Have coach Gambhir and captain Gill made a strategy for this threat?Image Credit source: PTI
Team India is ready for its third series in the World Test Championship and this time it is facing the current world champion South Africa. This series is starting from Friday 14th November in Kolkata, in which only 2 test matches will be played. But these two test matches are also going to be a big challenge for Team India. Not only because Team India is facing the World Champion, but also because the weapons that the South African team has brought to India have troubled Team India earlier also. These weapons are- Left arm spinner.
Like always, every Test series held in India has been known for the dominance of spinners and this time too the story will be the same, hardly anyone has any doubt about it. There is no doubt that the South African batsmen will have to struggle against the Indian spinners because it is not a new thing to see foreign batsmen, especially from outside Asia, dancing on the fingers of the spinners on the Indian pitch.
These 2 left arm spinners will become a threat
But this time the situation is different because Indian batsmen may also have to face difficulties because the South African team has come with 3 such spinners, who are in good form at the moment. Especially two left arm spinners – Keshav Maharaj and Senyuran Muthusamy. Most of the Indian fans would be familiar with Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj, the only South African spinner to take more than 200 wickets in Test cricket, has been in excellent form in the last two years.
Maharaj has taken 54 wickets in 11 test matches since 2024. Recently, during the Pakistan tour, Maharaj had taken 7 wickets in one innings. Apart from Maharaj, Muthusamy has also proved to be dangerous. He is also a traditional left arm spinner and has taken 22 wickets in 7 tests. Out of these, this spinner had taken 11 wickets in a single match against Pakistan. In such a situation, he can prove dangerous on Indian pitches also.
Ajaz Patel took 10 wickets
The biggest reason for paying so much attention to left arm spinners is the history of the last four years. In fact, from 2021 till now, all the teams from outside Asia that have come to tour India, their left-arm spinners have done something amazing. In the Mumbai Test in November 2021, New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel took all 10 wickets in a single innings. He took a total of 14 wickets in that match. After this, the Australian team came to tour India in 2023. During this time, debuting left arm spinner Matthew Kuhneman had taken 5 wickets in a single innings. Even during the Sri Lanka tour this year, this bowler had taken 16 wickets in just 2 matches.
Hartley-Santner also created havoc
Not only this, young left arm spinner Tom Hartley made a lot of impact for England who toured India in the beginning of 2024. This bowler then took 22 wickets in 5 Tests, out of which 7 wickets came in a single innings. The most memorable and effective left arm spinner was seen only last year, when the New Zealand team came on India tour and gave a historic performance and made a 3-0 clean sweep of Team India. Left arm spinner Mitchell Santner became the star of that surprising victory of New Zealand. This spinner has taken 23 wickets in 4 Tests in India, out of which 13 wickets came in the Pune Test only. This means that it is clear that Team India is in greater danger in this series not just from the spinners but from the arm spinners.