Zampa and Co. trump India spinners

Chandigarh, March 13

Cheteshwar Pujara went to play club cricket in Chennai, for R Ashwin’s team, and spoke some interesting words about handling spin bowling on the spin-friendly tracks of club cricket there. He said: “It is good to play on such wickets as playing on such pitches helps me prepare better. If you are doing well in club cricket, you gain a lot of confidence. When it comes to playing spin, this experience will help.”

Interestingly, India’s batsmen were undone by Australia’s spinners in the ODI series. Adam Zampa was the most successful spinner for Australia, with 11 wickets, while Nathan Lyon (3), Glenn Maxwell (1) contributed four in all. This is most wickets picked up by Australia’s spinners in a bilateral ODI series in India. Zampa’s 11 equals India record set by Brad Hogg in 2007. Shane Warne’s best? Four in four ODIs in 2001.

India’s spinners picked up 16 wickets, just one more than Australia, at an average of 45.00 and economy rate of 5.85. Australia’s spinners had a superior average of 38.46, and also a superior economy rate of 5.40. So, while Pat Cummins picked up most wickets for Australia, 13, it can be said that the Indians were really undone by their spinners. And the Indian spinners were outbowled by Aussie spinners. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learnt from what Pujara said — Indian batsmen need to play more at home to fix their skills against spin bowling. — TNS