Simmering Southpaws

It is encouraging that left-arm spinners are hogging the limelight in the Under-19 World Cup. In recent times world cricket has produced a number of great spinners like Anil Kumble, Mushtaq Ahmed, Muttiah Muralidharan, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shane Warne. But all of them have been right-armers. South African Paul Adams showed glimpses of his extraordinary talent before fading into oblivion. Among the current players, English Ashley Giles and Bangledeshi Mohammad Rafique have been performing creditably. It would be a prize for world cricket if the likes of Graeme White, Ravinder Jadeja and Saqibul Hasan can send wickets tumbling at the game’s highest levels. Especially encouraging is Test minnows Bangladesh building a pool of left-arm spinners to take the big boys by storm in some future date.