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England v India, Quarter-final, Under-19 World Cup
India leave batsmen in a spin
George Binoy in Kuala Lumpur
February 24, 2008
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Iqbal Abdulla is forming an impressive partnership with Ravindra Jadeja and making life tough for batsmen
© Getty Images
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England's batsmen tried to bat to a plan in their quarter-final against India: they were cautious against the new-ball and concentrated on keeping wickets in tact with the aim of steadily building momentum as the innings progressed. It did not turn out that way because after the fast bowlers tied them down, India's left-arm spin duo - Iqbal Abdulla and Ravindra Jadeja - bowled with such accuracy that, between them, they took 5 for 52 in 19 overs as the batsmen tried to raise the run-rate.
Abdulla and Jadeja didn't have much to do in India's initial games and bowled a total of 17.1 overs in the first two matches against Papua New Guinea and South Africa. However, Jadeja sent down 20 overs against West Indies and England while Abdulla was needed to bowl 18.5. As a result both bowlers' rhythm has grown stronger as India approached the business end of the tournament.
Abdulla took 3 for 29 in the match. He trapped the England captain Alex Wakely lbw with one that drifted in, and had Steve Finn stumped. However, it was his second wicket Tom Westley, who was caught by Virat Kohli at cover, which he was happiest with.
"I had planned it [Westley's dismissal]," Abdulla said. "It was a ball bowled according to the field and it dipped a bit. It feels good to bowl your entire spell. Though it was one over less, it was better than the earlier games."
England were 56 for 1 after 19 overs when the first spinner, Jadeja, was brought on to bowl and Abdulla felt that the fast bowlers had created an ideal situation for them.
"The batsmen had a tough task. They had to score runs and keep wickets intact so they slowed down. When the runs didn't come, I think they planned to play out all 50 overs. Once I flighted it and got hit out of the ground. After that I thought it was better to bowl tight. It wasn't a very helpful track; it was turning just a bit."
Though both are left-arm orthodox spinners, they have contrasting styles. Abdulla tends to give the ball a little more air while Jadeja fires them in fast with the primary aim of frustrating the batsmen into making mistakes because of the lack of scoring opportunities.
"We work well in tandem because, if I create pressure at one end, he [Abdulla] can get wickets at the other and vice versa," Jadeja said. "I was mixing it up today. I was bowling arm balls, yorkers and some that even dipped in the air. The turn wasn't much so the batsmen had to keep thinking whether the ball would turn a bit or go straight."
Jadeja says that he's been working on his yorker and has come close to mastering it. "It comes in from outside off stump, drifts in the air, and also moves towards the stumps after pitching. Initially the batsman isn't ready to face such a ball so it's a problem."
Jadeja has developed a reputation of being hard to score against in the domestic limited-overs matches in India. He has seven wickets in the World Cup so far at an economy-rate of 2.77. Add Abdulla's nine scalps at 9.11 apiece and India have a potent spin attack to back up the disciplined performances of their fast bowlers.
George Binoy is a staff writer at Cricinfo
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