Cricket is a very easy sport to view but tough to master and play and one of the toughest craft to master is bowling and being a spin bowler is even more difficult. Some of the greatest spinners like Muralitharan, Warne, Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and Lance Gibbs have all been masters of the game. Spin bowling is an art as it can entice the batsmen into a false sense of comfort, but some batsmen have the ability to go after the spin bowlers with ease and clear them off the park. The best of the spinners though have the ability to make a strong comeback and surprise the batsmen with the pace of the pitch and even shock the speed gun in the process. Here we look at five such occasions when spinners channeled their inner fast bowling skills during the course of a game.
Shadab Khan (Pak) versus Joe Root (England) – Speed-111 KPH or 69.2 MPH
The 22 year old leg spinner from Pakistan has made his presence made known as one of the finest and premium spinners in the world right now. Shadab Khan unleashed a 111 KPH corker against English star batsman Joe Root much to the surprise of many and showed he possess this surprise weapon in his arsenal as well.
Krunal Pandya (Mumbai Indians) versus Marcus Stoinis (Australia) – Speed 112.5 KPH or 70 MPH
CricTracker.com
The 30 year old from Baroda is one of the most important members for Rohit Sharma and Mumbai Indians and during the IPL 2020 game against Delhi he bowled this quick delivery to Marcus Stoinis just when the Australian batsman was starting to look dangerous.
Piyush Chawla (Kings XI Punjab) versus Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals)–Speed -117 KPH or 72.7 MPH
StarsUnfolded
32 year old leg spinner Piyush Chawla started out as a young prodigy and full of promise teenager but has since lost his way and his place in the Indian side. Chawla who is one of the legends in the IPL unleashed a 117 KPH fireball at Shane Watson during a game between Punjab and Rajasthan in the IPL and also prizing out the key wicket of Watson with the faster one.
Anil Kumble (India) versus Marcus Trescothick (England) – Speed 118 KPH or 73.3 MPH
CricketCountry.com
Anil Kumble is an Indian legend and a spin bowling great after having picked 619 test wickets and 337 ODI wickets and is the second bowler after Jim Laker to pick 10 wickets in an innings when he picked 10/74 against Pakistan at Delhi in 1999. Kumble had the ability to bowl a mean fast ball as he had started his career as a pace bowler and English opener Marcus Trescothick faced a 118 KPH thunderbolt during the Natwest series in 2002.
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) versus Tim Southee (New Zealand) – Speed -134 KPH or 83.2 MPH
ESPNcricinfo.com
Shahid Afridi or Boom -Boom Afridi as he is known started out as a firebrand opening batsman who could roll his arm over but as the years progressed he turned into a leading leg spin bowler and a hard hitting lower order batsman. During the 2010 tour of New Zealand the former Pakistani captain surprised Tim Southee by bowling him through the gate with a ball which was clocked at 134 KPH on the speed gun.