There are sexier spin bowlers at this World Cup but few wilier than the Afghanistan stalwart
Osman Samiuddin03-Nov-20232:16
How impressive has Shahidi been as captain?
Pretend you’re an Afghanistan selector. You’re licking your lips at the fantabulous array of spinners you can call upon for a World Cup in the subcontinent.There’s the GOAT white-ball leggie who’s become so good now that teams consider it a win if they go at four an over against him and only cede the odd wicket; so good that eight years after his international debut, thousands of hours of video dissection later, we’re still only guessing which one’s the googly.There’s the right-arm all-sorts who has become possibly the world’s first specialist new-ball spinner, opening the bowling in 62 of the 72 ODIs he’s played, bowling in the powerplay in 69 of those. Who has taken more than three times as many wickets in the powerplay as the next most prolific spinner in that phase since his debut six years ago; whose 47 wickets are equal to the combined total number of wickets taken by that list’s top six.Related
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There’s an 18-year-old left-arm legspinner and that’s it. Those words the sell. And for the first time since the mid-2010s, they’ve also got a solid fast-bowling pair, one left-arm, one right-arm. All of which means they didn’t even need to pick another couple of young leggie sensations for this World Cup.All bases covered right? Yep. All good.Now pretend you’re the opposition to an Afghanistan side. Got to plan this with care. See out Rashid Khan, don’t give him so much as a sniff (say a little prayer just in case because you’ll likely need it). Mujeeb ur Rehman, be very wary because though you want to go hard in that powerplay, here’s the data dump: he’s not going to let you. He goes at four an over he takes wickets. Sure, later on you might target him but don’t be rash when you start.And Noor Ahmad is no Kuldeep Yadav or Brad Hogg but he doesn’t need to be. Remember, his kind are still rare enough so that, every now and again, they spark all kinds of malfunctioning in perfectly functioning batting orders. And Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq are both considerably better than you might think.Missing anything? Nope. All systems go.Except, hang on. Incoming.Mohammad Nabi sends his regards.Remember him? How could you forget? Part of the furniture so long he’s not the first name on the teamsheet, he is basically the letterhead. Precisely the guy oppositions might look past because, hello, right-arm zero frills. Nobody bothers doing video dissections of Mohammad Nabi because what are you trying to decipher? Whether he’s a handsome young-looking old man, or a handsome old-looking young man?
The stumping of Logan van Beek was obviously exceptional, a flighty, floaty gimme that dipped late and turned into an absolute gotcha, the kind of ball that cuts across all preferences and demographics: young, old, casual, hardcore, Bedi, Ashwin, red-ball purist, white-ball hedonist
And yet here he is at this most joyous of World Cups for Afghanistan, a better strike rate and economy than Rashid and Mujeeb and only a wicket fewer than both. Fact: other than R Ashwin, who’s only played one game, Nabi has the best economy rate for all fingerspinners at this World Cup.This latest, a Player-of-the-Match display in Afghanistan’s fourth win, was classic Nabi. Everyone was watching out for the others, the big turn, the carrom balls, the wrong ‘un, the leftie’s wrong ‘un, and in slipped Nabi behind them. Right-arm offspin? Sure, if you really want to call it that, but actual turn seems to be the least of it sometimes with Nabi.More like right-arm unsexy. Right-arm sorry-not-sorry. Right-arm scrooge. Right-arm gotcha. Right-arm hustle. Right-arm bustle. Right-arm squeeze. Right-arm tease. Right-arm raised-eyebrow. Right-arm lowbrow. Right-arm wise. Right-arm does-not-miss-a-damn-trick.Afghanistan had conceded six, nine, six, nine, six, eight and 11 in each of the seven overs before Nabi came on for the 12th. At least a boundary in each of them too, swiftly squandering the advantage Mujeeb’s first-over wicket had got them. Farooqi was not settling, Mujeeb was not settling, Netherlands were bossing it. Afghanistan got into a long on-field huddle. All eyes on Rashid, having just returned to the field, taking control of this impromptu timeout and… Nabi sent his regards.Mohammad Nabi celebrates Bas de Leede’s wicket•Associated PressTight on off, tighter on length, four dot balls in his first over, seven in his first two overs, 12 in his first three, three singles conceded, one boundary, not a single ball worth remembering, barely a single ball deserving to be hit. Nothing to see here folks, except the life being squeezed right out of the Netherlands start.By the time he got his first wicket, he’d already caused the fall of three others. Now you might think the using “caused” for run-outs here is generous and perhaps you’re right. But I prefer to think the three run-outs in his overs were his new magic trick, like a new variation. Right-arm run-outs. And if ever there was a case to be made for a run-out being the work of the bowler, then it was in Scott Edwards’ dismissal which, spiritually, was surely a stumping.In his next over, the innings’ 21st, he got Bas de Leede with what looked like an exceptionally unexceptional delivery, except that it did hang back a little longer, a little more outside off and made a point of not turning. Netherlands were 72 for 1 when Nabi came on. They were now 97 for 5.The real stumping later of Logan van Beek, by contrast, was obviously exceptional, a flighty, floaty gimme that dipped late and turned into an absolute gotcha, the kind of ball that cuts across all preferences and demographics: young, old, casual, hardcore, Bedi, Ashwin, red-ball purist, white-ball hedonist. Everybody loves The One Where The Batter Danced Out And Looked a Little Bit Silly. Un-obviously it was also exceptional, coming at the end of an over in which his speeds went up and down like an arrhythmic heartbeat, never letting either van Beek or Sybrand Engelbrecht settle.”Focusing on dot balls,” he explained later, as if it needed pointing out. “I always try to concentrate on my lines and lengths, and variations. I try to stick to my plans and use the angles. In some pitches, the variation is more, that is sometimes why I get more wickets.”Translation: look over there, at all those bright, flashy toys. That’s where the action is. Nothing to see here. Just me, quietly minding my own business and with it, Afghanistan’s too.