In contrast to bowling in the back-10, when the ball becomes softer and the field is also spread, the hardness of the ball during Powerplay overs doesn’t allow spinners to gain more purchase off the track, according to India spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
Throughout the competition, Chakravarthy has been unlucky as numerous catches have been dropped off his bowling, despite his good economy rate of 5.85, which has allowed him to take four wickets in four games.
The mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu nodded when asked if he felt more at ease bowling towards the back-end in this tournament.
“The harder the ball is, it definitely is not getting much purchase for a spinner. Talking from a spinner’s perspective, if you are bowling in the powerplay or right after the powerplay, there’s not much help from the wicket. But as the game progresses and as the field spreads out, it’s getting better.”
Chakravarthy stated that one must aim for wickets during Powerplays and that containing batters is not an option.
“In Powerplay, the only aim is to look for wickets. It’s just looking for that one ball if it pitches on that right spot and it turns a little bit and it can edge it. It’s about looking for that because that’s my role in the team.
“Even if I go for little runs, my aim is to keep on attacking and try to look for more wickets,” he said.
He claimed that he became more effective as the ball grew older, even against Bangladesh.
“It was just that initially the ball was skidding on more and as the ball started getting older, I started getting a little bit more purchase from the wicket,” said Chakravarthy.
