I have been struggling with some doubts about off-spin and leg-spin for 15-odd years now! I know the basic definition very well as long as right handed players are involved.
I know that when a right arm bowler turns a ball in to the right handed batsman towards his leg stump, it is called off-spin. Now if the right arm bowler turns a ball away from the right handed batsman towards his off stump, it is called leg spin. Also, I know that off-spinners turn the ball with their fingers while leg spinners turn the ball with their wrists. ... (Para 2).
The first confusion arises when a right arm bowler bowls to a left hand batsman. Now if the bowler is a finger spinner, his delivery will obviously move away from the left hander. So to the batsman he is a leg spinner, but the bowler is still bowling off spin! So whose point of reference is taken to describe the bowler?... (Para 3)
The second confusion arises when a left arm bowler bowls to a right hand batsman! Now if that bowler is a wrist spinner, the ball will come in to the right hand batsman! So should he be called an off spinner even though he uses his wrists? I've seen commentators perplexed with this issue and to be on the safer side, they just call bowlers like Daniel Vettori and Pragyan Ojha as 'left arm spinners'. ... (Para 4)
Finally, if a left arm spinner bowls to a left hand batsman, I don't think there should be any confusion as the definitions in para 2 above apply - you just need to replace 'right' with 'left'.
However, paragraphs 3 and 4 are still baffling, I would appreciate if someone throws some light on them!
Oh wait! How could I forget googlies, doosras, leg cutters, off cutters and chinamen? (Kindly stop reading if your head is spinning). I know that if Shane Warne, a right arm wrist spinner turns a ball in towards the leg stump of Sachin Tendulkar, a right hand batsman, it is called a googly. And when Muttiah Muralitharan, a right arm finger spinner turns the ball away from Tendulkar, it is called a doosra. Googly, doosra and chinaman are deliveries which are called wrong 'uns because they do the reverse of what is expected of them. What is a chinaman? - you may ask. It is basically a wrong 'un bowled by a left arm wrist spinner - now you figure out which way it is going to turn if Brian Lara is batting*. Off cutters and leg cutters are simply spinning deliveries bowled by fast bowlers. Please don't ask me which way they turn as explaining that now will make my head explode!!
*Ans - In towards Lara's pads. (Lara --> Left hand bat).
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Vipul Bhai
There are certain childhood associations that stick for a long while. Sentiments that developed in early childhood can hardly be erased. Maybe it is because those sentiments are really pure!
One such association I have since childhood is with VCPs/VCRs. Yes, Video cassette players. I've always wanted to own one. At a time when there was no cable television, video cassettes were the only way to watch a movie at home. I used to be a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan and for some reason, Raj Kapoor. Watching their movies was fun even though I didn't understand much.
Unfortunately we never got to own a VCR as my mom thought it would adversely affect my studies. We used to rent VCRs and cassettes from time to time for a day. Those days were pretty exciting. Watching an Amitabh Bachchan movie at home was an exciting prospect for me. The site of a video cassette and a video player itself was exciting. Even now, though the video players have become obsolete, I wouldn't mind owning one just so that the little Salil in me feels happy!
Now you may ask who the hell is Vipul Bhai? Basically, Vipul was the guy who used to rent video players and cassettes at the time. He used to come home, hook up the VCR to the TV and leave us with it for the entire day. Obviously, I had a positive association with the guy who brings the video home. Vipul Bhai was one of the best people in the world according to me.
The next sentence contains a lot of potential for double meaning but that is not the intention - kindly be more mature in understanding the sentiment behind it. Even now, when I see Vipul Bhai on the road, for a second I feel excited as those old sentiments related to the video player come rushing back in. I guess old sentiments die hard!
One such association I have since childhood is with VCPs/VCRs. Yes, Video cassette players. I've always wanted to own one. At a time when there was no cable television, video cassettes were the only way to watch a movie at home. I used to be a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan and for some reason, Raj Kapoor. Watching their movies was fun even though I didn't understand much.
Unfortunately we never got to own a VCR as my mom thought it would adversely affect my studies. We used to rent VCRs and cassettes from time to time for a day. Those days were pretty exciting. Watching an Amitabh Bachchan movie at home was an exciting prospect for me. The site of a video cassette and a video player itself was exciting. Even now, though the video players have become obsolete, I wouldn't mind owning one just so that the little Salil in me feels happy!
Now you may ask who the hell is Vipul Bhai? Basically, Vipul was the guy who used to rent video players and cassettes at the time. He used to come home, hook up the VCR to the TV and leave us with it for the entire day. Obviously, I had a positive association with the guy who brings the video home. Vipul Bhai was one of the best people in the world according to me.
The next sentence contains a lot of potential for double meaning but that is not the intention - kindly be more mature in understanding the sentiment behind it. Even now, when I see Vipul Bhai on the road, for a second I feel excited as those old sentiments related to the video player come rushing back in. I guess old sentiments die hard!
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