The newly appointed T20 captain, Suryakumar Yadav, gave the responsibility to Rinku Singh when only nine runs were needed from 12 balls
The new era of the Indian men's cricket team started with the selection of Gautam Gambhir as a coach to India's 3-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka. The last match saw some terrific bowling performances from the part-time bowlers. The newly appointed T20 captain, Suryakumar Yadav, gave the responsibility to Rinku Singh when only nine runs were needed from 12 balls. The off-spinner took two crucial wickets by giving just three runs from his one over. Kushal Perara, batting at 46, fell victim to Rinku's delivery. In the last over, the captain took matters into his own hands and defended the six runs. SKY also took two wickets, and the match was tied. During the super over, India emerged victorious.
What and how did this happen when you two main batsman are still on crease and they loose wicket to Lord Rinku Singh. pic.twitter.com/EoyDMDwHWL
— Bishwajeet Mahato (@mahato99) July 30, 2024
Utilising part-time bowlers is not an unusual phenomenon. In the following paragraphs, we recall when Indian part-time bowlers made a statement with their miraculous spells.
Rahul Dravid
It was during the ODI in March 2000 that Rahul Dravid's part-time bowling came into the limelight. At Kochi, he scalped South Africa's Gary Kirsten and Lance Klusener. Later, at Faridabad, Dravid also removed Shaun Pollock in the same series. Another impressive feat of his was removing Saeed Anwar, who was batting at 95 in the 1999 Pepsi Cup at Jaipur. In his four wickets with a maiden over, Dravid kept an economy rate of 5.48.
VVS Laxman was not greatly effective with the ball. Over a progressively meagre test career, Laxman captured the wickets of two batters. His off-spinners in Test cricket got him big wickets like Adam Sanford in the 2002 Antigua Test and Mohammad Sami in the 2007 Test at Kolkata's Eden Gardens. He may not have bowled a lot, but the times he got into bowl, he bowled twelve maidens and an economy of 2. 33.
Sachin Tendulkar has often proved himself to be more than a part-time bowler. He bowled right-arm medium pace, off-spin, and leg spin. He garnered 45 Test wickets, 154 ODI wickets, and one T20I wicket. Master Blaster is the only player in history to defend 6 runs in the final over more than once in an ODI match. In the Hero Cup Semi-Final at Eden Garden in 1993 against South Africa, he halted the Proteas to chase 196. Again, in the 1996 Titan Cup Final, 6 runs were defended successfully against Australia.
'The Prince of Kolkata' was one of the greatest captains and a handy part-time bowler. Ganguly picked up 100 ODI wickets and 32 Test wickets. In many matches, he has proven his worth as a bowler. In the 1999 ODI against Sri Lanka, Ganguly returned with figures of 4/21 to ensure an easy 80-run victory for India. His 5/34 against Zimbabwe in 2000 broke a record set long ago, enabling a nine-wicket win. His bowling career reached its zenith during the 1997 ODI against Pakistan, where his 5/16, combined with only a modest batting performance, saw India win by 34 runs.
From what we have understood in three games under Gambhir’s management, it seems he wants every player to develop a bit of all-rounding skills.
