‘Leg spinner is a wicket-taker’, says Shadab as World Cup 2019 nears

Pakistan’s young leggie Shadab Khan highlighted the importance of leg spinners in modern cricket especially emphasizing on their roles in the upcoming World Cup, which would be played on batting friendly tracks

“Because wrist-spinners spin every way,” Shadab told the ICC. “If there is spin there it’s very difficult to play if you bowl in good areas, and it’s very difficult to play on any surface. That’s why it’s important. With a leg spinner, yes you may score runs, but he is a wicket-taker. You’re always looking for wickets so that’s why we’re always in the game.”

The modern limited overs game has become more of a run minting contest, thanks to the arrival of batting friendly tracks, and the only way to stop the flow of runs is to take wickets, which is where the leg spinner becomes even more important.

“It’s a very important role,” says Shadab. “With batting [friendly] tracks the par score will be 300 so, if you take wickets in the middle overs, you have a good chance to win games. On these batting surfaces we have to take wickets, otherwise they’ll score 350-plus, so if you take the wickets you can contain them under 300. To contain them under 300 is very good.”

Shadab, who recently fought through a viral infection, was declared fit for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 after his latest test results reflected zero viral load in his blood.