Former India cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels Ravichandran Ashwin should just look at leg-spin as a variant. Meanwhile, Ashwin is developing a new variation to enrich his armoury.
The Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ashwin is out of India’s one-day side for almost a year now. As a result, he is honing his skills as a leg-spinner in domestic cricket for the last few months.
Even as aggressive wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have churned out exemplary performances for India, in the shorter formats recently.
The Kings XI Punjab skipper knows he will have an ideal opportunity to get back into the reckoning during IPL XI if he performs well.
While Ashwin is striving to make it work, Sivaramakrishnan feels he should use it as a variation.
“Ashwin is trying something different because leg-spinners (Chahal and Kuldeep) have been effective for India. There is no harm in trying. Hopefully, Ashwin will be successful… It won’t only be good for him or his franchise but also for Indian cricket,” he said.
“He has been bowling a lot of leg-breaks of late. But Ashwin should look at leg spin as a variation. He cannot become a leg-spinner, simply because of his action and the habits he has developed over the years. His natural ability is to bowl off-spin. If he has to bowl genuine leg breaks, his whole action has to be remodeled. He is an open-chested bowler and it is difficult as a leg-spinner. The basics itself will have to change,” Sivaramakrishnan added.
Shifting his focus to Chennai Super Kings team, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels the leggies are likely to do well in this tournament.
Meanwhile, Chennai has a strong spin department with Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, and Karn Sharma in the fold.
“I see Bhajji and Jadeja as certainties in the side. Tahir and Karn, meanwhile, will have more of a part to play in the latter half of the season when the pitches have wear and tear,” he concluded.
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