Speed is the key to success for the leg spinners reveals Brad Hogg

Australia’s premier T20 competition the Big Bash League (BBL) is in its seventh edition and right at the start is already enjoying massive success. It is not often that you find spinners being the talk of the town in Australian conditions but this time, leg-spinners have hogged the headlines with some brilliant performances.

46-year-old Brad Hogg is still playing cricket and deceiving the batsmen with his wrong ‘un. Hogg who had switched from Perth Scorchers to Melbourne Renegades last season said that the overseas spinners who are enjoying success in the Big Bash League are bowling much slower here than other spinners.

Two 19-year-old wrist spinners are one of the major talking points in BBL’s 7th edition. Pakistan’s Shadab Khan and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan have burst into the BBL scene with their brilliant performances in the early stage of the league. Shadab who was signed by Brisbane Heat made his debut against Melbourne Stars and picked up two wickets in that game while Rashid was awarded Man of the Match on his debut for Adelaide Strikers against Sydney Thunders.

Speed matters

Hogg while talking about the two sensational spinners said that their success has a lot to do with the variation in the speed at which it is bowled. “We look at the overseas leggies compared to the Australian leggies – they’re a lot quicker in the air and a lot quicker in their action,” said the 47-year-old who bagged 2 for 25 against the Brisbane Heats.

Shadab in his second outing for the Brisbane Heat bowled in the powerplay when his side was defending a low total against Melbourne Renegades gave his side a chance when he sent back the Renegades openers in quick time. Although Khan’s side lost the game, his brilliant spell of 17 for 2 in four overs was applauded.

Learning from Mitchell Swepson says, Shadab Khan

Heat have another leg-spinner on their side in the form of Mitchell Swepson who also bowled brilliantly without any success as he gave just 25 runs in his 4 overs. Speaking about Swepson, the Pakistani said that both of them are learning from each other.

“We are learning from each other – I’m learning the leg break from him and he’s learning the googly from me,” said Shadab.