COACHING CANDIDATE

L Sivaramakrishnan keen to coach India spinners till 2019 World Cup

by Gaurav Gupta • Published on

"Both Chahal and Kuldeep have the conventional leg-break and the googly, but they can add a top-spinner to their repertoire. They also need to be careful to not overuse the googly." © Getty

Following reports that the Indian team management has expressed the need for a spin bowling coach after the poor show in England, former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan says he is ready to throw his hat in the ring. India's spinners were all over the West Indies in the first Test at the SCA Stadium here but they're unlikely to get as much help from the pitch when they tour abroad, especially in white-ball cricket.

"I'd like to help our spinners till the World Cup in the role of spin consultant/ coach, if the BCCI approaches me with an offer. The middle overs - from 11 to 40 - is the period when we need to pick up the wickets. If our spinners take five wickets in this period for about 150, they'd have done their job. Otherwise, you're looking at a potentially dangerous situation, where the opposition's middle order is set to lunch into a slog in the last 10 overs," Sivaramakrishnan told TOI on Saturday.

The ex-leggie, who made his Test debut at just 17 in the early 1980s, was rated highly before fading away after taking 26 wickets in nine Tests. "All our spinners are good, but need fine-tuning," he said, before analysing the spinners.

"Kuldeep Yadav's balance while delivering the ball needs to improve. His body isn't synchronized properly, and his arms aren't rotating in a round manner while delivering the ball. Yuzuvendra Chahal tends to drift to the leg and middle, which means the batsmen can look to smash him to mid-wicket, which is likely to be vacant since the two fielders on the on-side are likely to be stationed at deep square leg (for the sweep shot) and long-on.

"If he bowls on or outside off stump, the batsmen will be forced to drive him on the off side, where he can have three fielders - two at point, cover, and long off protecting him. His googly will also become more dangerous then - of the batsman misses it, he's likely to be bowled or LBW," says the 52-year-old, who, at 18, took 12/181 to win India a Test in Mumbai in the 1984-85 series against England, which saw him bag the Man of the Series award for bagging 23 wickets.

"Both Chahal and Kuldeep have the conventional leg-break and the googly, but they can add a top-spinner to their repertoire. They also need to be careful to not overuse the googly," Sivaramakrishnan reckoned.

© TNN

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