Cricket World Cup, 2019: 5 Wrist Spinners who could be the X-Factor for their team

In the 2017 Champions Trophy, almost every team went in with wrist spinners in their squad. India was one of the teams who were relying on the traditional finger spin of Ashwin and Jadeja in Champions Trophy 2017. The duo were unable to contain the opposition and take wickets. Their dismal performance was the reason behind India losing the finals of the Champions Trophy 2017.

In the next series, India replaced their finger spinners by two young wrist spinners in Kuldeep and Chahal and reaped instant rewards. They are making life difficult for the batters around the world by taking wickets in the middle overs for fun. Such is the dominance of the wrist spinners currently in world cricket.

Interestingly, the Top 5 bowlers in the ICC T20I Rankings are all wrist spinners. Suddenly wrist spinners are coming from teams who weren’t famous for wrist spin. Almost every team has started preferring wrist spinners over the traditional finger spinners in the limited overs format. The simple reason being the variation possessed by the wrist spinners. They can spin the ball both ways and can trouble both types of batsmen. With the pitches being flat and finger spinners not getting much turn, wrist spinners are certainly the way forward. On this note, let’s have a look at 5 such wrist spinners who could be the game changer for their respective team in the 2019 World Cup.

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5. Shadab Khan

Shadab Khan is currently the No.2 T20I Bowler

Shadab Khan from Pakistan has been their wrist spinner for quite a while now. He was part of the Pakistan team which won the Champions Trophy in 2017. He made his debut for Pakistan in T20 format against the West Indies team. He had a dream debut as he picked by 3 wickets in his 4 overs for just 7 runs at an economy rate of 1.75! He won the man of the match on his debut. He won 3 such awards in his first 10 T20I games! He is equally effective in the ODI format as well. He has picked up 28 wickets in 18 games at an economy rate of just 4.85! He foxes the batsmen with his googly as most of the batsmen fail to read him. He can be effective on the flat wickets in England and hence is slotted in at No.5 on this list.

4. Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid is the leading wicket-taker in 2018 in the ODI format

Adil Rashid is one of the important players of this England white-ball team which has improved significantly from the 2015 World Cup. He is England’s leading-wicket taker since the 2015 World Cup. He has left red-ball cricket to focus on white-ball cricket and subsequently on the upcoming World Cup. He was instrumental in helping England whitewash Australia as he took 12 wickets in the 5 match ODI series. He is currently the 9th ranked ODI bowler. The 30-year-old leg-spinner has taken 110 wickets in just 72 ODIs. He is the leading wicket-taker in 2018 in ODIs as he has picked up 33 wickets in 18 games. There is no doubt that he will continue to be England’s frontline spinner leading into the 2019 World Cup. Adil Rashid has the experience of bowling in England and that will help him in the upcoming World Cup. He will be England’s X-Factor in the 2019 World Cup.

3 and 2. ‘Kulcha’ (Kuldeep and Chahal)

The 'Kulcha' pair is running through sides for fun

Kuldeep and Chahal are currently running through sides for fun. They have been picking wickets in the middle overs for India which means half of the job is done for the team. Both of them replaced Ashwin and Jadeja in the aftermath of Champions Trophy drubbing in 2017 and since then have been performing admirably well. Such is the dominance of these two wrist spinners that they have kept Ashwin and Jadeja out of the team for such long.

As expected they were effective in India against Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka in 2017. But the big surprise came when they were dominating South Africa in South Africa. They picked up 33 wickets between them in just 6 games and were instrumental in helping India win the series 5-1! No other bowler even came close to them in the number of wickets picked. Kuldeep being a left-arm wrist spinner is making life even more difficult as batsmen around the world are finding it difficult to pick him through the hand. He has picked up 26 wickets in just 8 games in 2018 in the ODI format. He recently took a 5 Wicket Haul in the opening T20I and the opening ODI as well. 10-0-25-6 are the best figures by a left-arm wrist spinner in the ODI format. Same was the case with his figures in the opening T20I. India will be hoping that these two bowlers keep troubling the batsmen in the upcoming World Cup as well.

1. Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan is the No.2 Bowler in the ODI Rankings

Even though Afghanistan might be the last team to qualify for the World Cup but they have the best wrist spinner in the business. Rashid Khan is current the No.1 T20I bowler and No.2 ODI bowler in the ICC Rankings. We have all seen how dangerous he can be in the IPL for the last two years. On his day, he can run through any side. He has the ability to pick up 2-3 quick wickets and turn the game. The 19-year-old leg-spinner is the quickest to 100 ODI Wickets in just 43 games. He has a phenomenal ODI record as he has taken 100 wickets in 43 games at an economy rate of just 3.96 and an average of just 14.4 with four 5 Wicket Hauls. Considering the success wrist-spinners are getting in England he might be the biggest X-Factor for Afghanistan in the upcoming World Cup.