The veteran leg spinner believes one-day cricket, which dominates the international calendar, does not allow a spinner develop his game like matches of longer duration would do.
In an interview with Cricinfo, Kumble said, “I think it’s all because of one-day cricket. It’s hard to get spinners of that quality because you don’t play that many three-day or four-day games. You need to develop your game.
You are only bowling ten or eight overs or less in the shortened game, so the development of a spinner is tough,” he said.
Speaking from experience, the leg-spinner said, “I played a lot of three-day and four-day cricket, and you learn by bowling 30 overs. You try and learn while bowling those spells. That’s the reason I have actually enjoyed bowling even when there is nothing in the match.
“Just bowling a spell where I start learning about my game. It’s about saying, ‘What are the things that I can do if I come across this situation again?’ So that’s the learning process. That probably doesn’t happen these days for the younger lot,” he said.
Kumble said India needed to produce more turning tracks, which would have some bounce as well.
“We’ll have to prepare wickets for spinners. The emphasis now is definitely on fast bowlers, but we need to create turning wickets.
I agree with Kumble on this one. This fast and furious form of cricket that is 20-20 will take away some of the charm of test cricket. Spin bowling being one of the first casualties. But there is a trade-off. This new form of cricket has more adrenaline. I’m sure Cricket will evolve into a great new global game in the coming decades.
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