IPL 2023: Leg-Spinners and Indian Youngsters Maximize Opportunities

The IPL 2023 has gone back to its home and away format and has a new impact player rule. The Leg-spinners though are finding a way to stay relevant and dominate in a format that was once seen as the end of spin bowling. Yuzvendra Chahal, with his four wicket-haul against Sunrisers roared back to life. Rashid Khan, in three games so far has continued to do things in his own way. With batters looking to play with a lot more intent, and with deeper line-ups due to the impact player rule, batters have started taking on the leggies, which is normally where leg-spinners find more success.

The likes of Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal have made careers out of getting batters who like to take them off and 2023 has seen them succeed in doing so. Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine found their spark as they spun a web around Royal Challengers Bangalore in defense of a strong target, to prove that the mystery in KKR’s attack remains a strength. In the first ten games alone, wrist-spin accounted for 33 wickets at an average of 14.40.

Older leg-spinners to are starting to come to life, as Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla are proving to be useful with their aggressive style of bowling. Karn Sharma in particular has left a mark, and gives Faf Du Plessis a headache to sort with Wanindu Hasaranga, another very talented leg-spinner in his prime joins the RCB camp.

Going beyond the leg-spinners, the impact rule, and also the fact that teams are looking to manage the workload of their overseas stars has allowed the domestic talent to be on show. With the impact rule, domestic batters are getting all the more chances to show their skills with captains fielding three overseas players and subbing in bowlers when needed.

Sai Sudharshan got his chance in a similar way, as he was subbed in. His substitution though was injury induced with Williamson carried off injured, but it has allowed Sudharshan to make a mark, and he is rolling now. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill, consistent players for Chennai and Gujarat respectively are also continuing to prove their worth as they strengthen their chances of pushing for opening spots, and maintaining their spots with Gill already opening across formats.

Another interesting player coming out of the impact player rule is Dhruv Jorel, who cleared the fence cleanly in the death when he got his opportunity. Tilak Varma is another batter who is making the most of his opportunity, as he continues to provide options with his left-arm batting. He had a really good season last year, and is pushing on giving a struggling Mumbai line-up something to be happy about.