Spinners today are focused more on bowling quicker than getting the ball to turn, feels Muttiah Muralidaran. Such is the current mindset because not all of them are keen on playing Test cricket, the spin great said.

“Domestic-level cricket has also been like this for spinners. When we played cricket, as a spinner, our first objective was to turn the ball. Nowadays, it’s not key because everyone is not looking at playing Test cricket. They are looking to play more of white-ball cricket,” Murali, the Sunrisers Hyderabad spin bowling coach, said after their win in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“Even at a young age, they only try to bowl quicker, vary the pace and don’t try to spin it. Since they are not getting that ability, they can’t come in at the age of 18 or 19 and try to spin the ball. Their muscle memories are already in place.

“When you are at the age of 10, 11, or 12, that’s when you try to turn the ball. That’s the way we learnt,” the former Sri Lanka off-spinner elaborated.

According to Murali, batting against spinners in the IPL is more like practising against throwdown specialists, as it’s all about “getting in the line of the ball and smacking it”.

‘Business’ matters

Producing fair wickets is the only way to balance the competition between the bat and the ball, Murali believes, in context of 200-plus targets being chased down comfortably. But in doing so, T20 followers may get “bored.”

“I think if we give fair wickets, the spectators will say it’s become boring because T20 followers want entertainment, and they want to see the fours and the sixes. It is a big business at the moment, (about) sponsors and everything... So, you will lose the sponsors and interest of the people (by producing challenging pitches),” he explained.