The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup being held in India, gives the perfect opportunity for spinners from all teams to dominate the 2023 edition of cricket’s biggest tournament. Who will be the top 5 Spinners in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023?

Presented by: Raghunath Nair

Introduction

Teams with quality spinners on their side will look to dominate the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup

Teams who have great pacers but have average spinners may find it difficult in their World Cup journey in this edition.

The slow and low pitches of India help spinners to get purchase from the wicket and some venues that are hosting the championship also have extra bounce which will make spin bowling even more potent.

This article will pick the top 5 spinners who have the potential to dominate and play a vital role in the progress of their team.

Kuldeep Yadav

With spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the team, Kuldeep Yadav has made his own place in the final eleven with some consistent performance in the past 6 to 8 months. He comes into the tournament as a spinner who has his captain’s 100% backing and is used as a wicket-taking option.

Kuldeep Yadav with his left arm Chinaman will be a difficult bowler to read as there are not many like him in the international circuit.

Even established and top-class batsman finds it difficult to read his deliveries which will make this southpaw an exciting player to watch in this World Cup.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan will look to dominate this edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. After dominating the top position in the ICC Ranking in the shorter format for a long time, it is time for Rashid Khan to unleash his wizardry in the helpful pitches of India.

While Rashid Khan is an attacking bowler, he seldom goes for runs, making his 10 overs “gold dust” for his team.

One of the reasons for this Afghan Player to dominate the spin world is his speed of delivery in the air and the ability to bowl his varieties of spin without much change in his bowling action.

Most teams look to play out this leg spinner without taking much risk and play defensively. This tactic has worked well in the past few years which has considerably spoiled the bowler’s strike rate.

The Afghani would need to look for more attacking options in this World Cup to improve his strike rate.

Maheesh Teekshana

Maheesh Teekshana has been one of the most improved bowlers in World Cricket. He is Sri Lanka’s go-to bowler when the captain is in desperate need of a wicket.

Maheesh Teekshana often starts the bowling for Sri Lanka and later bowls to pick wickets in the middle overs.

His stint in the Indian Premier League under MS Dhoni will help him immensely to adapt well to Indian conditions.

He is currently out of the playing eleven and even may miss the first two games for his side as he is recovering from a hamstring injury.

Sri Lanka will hope to see their champion bowler back in the playing eleven soon, particularly after having lost Wanindu Hasaranga due to injury.

 Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa has done well in the past in Indian subcontinental conditions. Off late, the leg spinner has been in red-hot form and is expected to play a very important role in the Australian bowling setup.

Zampa’s role has become crucial after the Australian selection committee erred in picking up more specialized spinners for the mega tournament which may prove costly in the course of the championship.

Shakib Al Hasan

The most underrated spinner in the ICC Men’s World Cup has to be the southpaw from Bangladesh who always finds a place in the world’s best all-rounder list.

He is the only spinner who has 200 +wickets in the list of spinners playing in the mega tournament.

Shakib Al Hasan controls the middle overs of the game and also keeps a few overs to be bowled at the end of the innings. The added responsibility of captaining the side may have a positive impact on Bangladesh’s best-ever cricketer.

• ODI Records Only

Conclusion

The lack of spinners to take advantage of the surface may prove fatal to many teams who would have selected an extra batsman in their squad. Spinners not only play a wicket-taking role but also help to speed up the over rate and help in curtailing runs.

Spinners worth mentioning in this article who will play impactful roles in this edition of the World Cup are

Tabrez Shamsi

Ravichandran Ashwin

Mujeeb ur Rahman

Mitchell Santner

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