Love him or hate him, you can't deny Gautam Gambhir's unabashed honesty. The former WC champion and current KKR coach slammed the ICC for the particular rule, which he personally believes led to the demise of the art of spin bowling in white-ball cricket, especially in ODIs.
The rule in question is the option for a team to select a second new ball in the middle of an innings, depending on the bowling team's needs and requirements.
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Gambhir embarked on a lively talk with Ravichandran Ashwin on RR Spinner's YouTube show “Kutti talks to Ashwin”He explained that he is of the firm belief that the option of changing the ball between innings has led to rendering finger spinners mostly useless in the ODI format of the game.
“The worst thing that happened in white-ball cricket was the introduction of two new balls. The reason I say that is that it took away the whole skill of finger spinners from the game, whether it's left-arm spinners or off-spinners. Because it will happen,” Gambhir shouted at Ashwin on his YouTube talk show.
“There are two new balls and there are five fielders inside. How do you expect a finger spinner to produce something off the surface and be included in the playing eleven? This is the world of white ball cricket. It's the worst thing that ever happened.”
Gambhir further reinforced his belief that the rule cost even two of the best finger spinners of this era, R Ashwin and Nathan Ryan, their white-ball careers cut short.
“I say it everywhere. This rule took away two of the best finger spinners in the world, you (Ashwin) and Nathan Ryan, who should have played more white-ball cricket. The reason you didn't play was because you didn't play. Because against all these expectations on a flat track with power hitters on the shirt boundary and DRS, you guys had nothing,” said an elated Gambhir on his return.
But who is to blame for this perceived downfall? Well, Gambhir reported part of it to international cricket's largest official body, the ICC.
As the years pass and the dominance of shorter formats of cricket takes precedence, it seems that the era of hard-hitting and adventurous cricket has no time to master the timeless art of spin.
The KKR coach vociferously blamed the ICC's ignorance as the reason for the decline in spin technology and asked the body to realize the same and bring about changes in the future.
“Tell me how many young people today want to take up the art of spin bowling, because everyone knows there is no future in white ball cricket. We are abolishing this rule of introducing two new balls. I think this is the worst thing that has ever happened to cricket.”
“I think the ICC has failed. I hope they change it in the future so that only one ball is used for the entire 50 overs of an ODI match.”
