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Glenn Maxwell’s once-in-a-lifetime innings on Tuesday should have come with a disclaimer at the end – don’t try this unless you are blessed with great hand-eye coordination, a free-flowing extension of the arms and dexterity to hit the ball to different areas. Maxwell doesn’t adhere to convention anyway but battling cramp and a stiff back on a sultry Mumbai evening, the Australian’s manual on how to obliterate spin was in full view. Not bothering with things like footwork as the innings progressed, he decided to stand and deliver, providing a big-hitting masterclass, particularly against Afghanistan’s spin quartet of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.
It wasn’t a chanceless effort, having top-edged sweeps off Rashid and Noor early on that the fielders failed to hold on to. But Maxwell’s boom-or-bust approach means a knock free of blemishes will be rare. If he is averaging 107 and striking at 155.07 against spinners in this World Cup, it suggests his method is working well enough even if he has been dismissed by spinners twice in six innings. Could Afghanistan’s spinners have done anything differently?
“Whenever I’ve bowled to Maxwell, it’s been important to not give him that room,” said former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who has dismissed Maxwell thrice in nine IPL innings. “He’s somebody who likes to play big shots and free his arms. It’s important not to give him that extra time in the air also. Whichever ball was bowled quicker to him before his injury, he was still rotating the strike. Whenever you give him a bit of time in the air, he’s good at picking it from the hand and he just plays those big shots.”
Nobody has had more success than Maxwell in attacking spinners in this tournament. If it’s about completely cutting out wicket-taking opportunities though, Virat Kohli stands out. His strike rate is a relatively sedate 84.32, but his 226 runs across seven innings against spin have come without being dismissed.
The emphasis on spin is paramount in India, for the conditions mandate ample skill in this facet. India batters have lost the least wickets to spin, and their own spinners have made the most breakthroughs – two important reasons for their imperious run in this World Cup.
In India’s last game against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer were supreme on a turning track. Against left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, they minimised all risk and preferred to play him out as figures of 10-0-30-1 illustrate. Against left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, in contrast, they showed an urge to attack because of the greater frequency of bad deliveries. Shamsi ended up leaking 72 runs in his 10 overs.
Kohli and Iyer’s methods against spin vary. Kohli mostly plays along the ground, manouevring it into gaps with minimum fuss. Iyer fancies stepping out, particularly against off-spinners, and clearing the long-on or midwicket boundary. He’s comfortable unleashing big hits from the comfort of his crease too.
That’s the case with most modern-day batters emboldened by the heavy diet of T20 cricket. Even when Maxwell’s footwork isn’t restricted like it was on Tuesday, he’s happy to stay still and discharge maximum power into his shots without getting to the pitch of the ball. He has hammered 12 sixes in six games against spin – the most by anyone in this tournament. Following closely with 11 in just three games is Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman, another batter whose brute power allows him to launch from a stationary position.
Nimble footwork, believes Chawla, is still essential when there is assistance for spinners. “When there is help (for spinners) in the pitch, players do use their feet because you have to then get to the pitch of the ball. When the wicket is flat, and most of the wickets have been really flat, they don’t really need to step out to create those big shots. Any ball pitched up, with a lot of T20 cricket happening, batters back themselves to play those big shots from the crease,” he said.
The most runs against spin over the past month have been scored by New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra – 248 in six games at a strike rate of 116.43. If there’s a game in this tournament where India’s spinners couldn’t impose themselves, it was when Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell forged a 159-run partnership in Dharamsala. They countered Kuldeep Yadav expertly, stepping out to smother the spin and eyeing boundaries down the ground. That both have hit eight sixes against spin in this tournament points to their dominance. In Ravindra’s case, his Indian roots and regular visits as a teenager to Bengaluru to improve his game against spin seem to have helped.
“The one guy who has really impressed is Ravindra,” said Chawla. “He uses the sweep, steps out, plays down the ground. He has batted beautifully against spin. It’s a treat to watch him bat.”
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