Shamsi stars in ODI, can do it in Tests
The Proteas haven’t had an attacking, wicket-taking spinner in Test cricket for a long time, but Tabraiz Shamsi could be just the man.
|||Cape Town – The Proteas haven’t had an attacking, wicket-taking spinner in Test cricket for a long time, but Tabraiz Shamsi could be the solution for the forthcoming tour of Australia.
Shamsi produced his best ODI figures in his third match of 3/36 in 10 overs (with his final over remarkably a maiden) to help the Proteas dismantle Australia for just 167 in 36.4 overs in Sunday’s fourth game at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
Yes, it was a one-day international, but the manner in which Shamsi bowled may make him the ideal man to add an extra dimension to the Proteas arsenal in a few weeks’ time Down Under, with the first Test against Australia starting on November 3 in Perth.
Shamsi wasn’t scared to toss the ball up into the air for the wind to take effect and help to make the ball dip, while he also used the worn pitch to extract considerable turn – both ways.
All three wickets were lbw decisions, with the most impressive delivery coming when he trapped Travis Head for a second-ball duck with a ball that spun away from the left-hander after the first one had been a googly that turned back in.
It was a wonderful piece of bowling, but so too was the first Shamsi wicket when Australian captain Steve Smith played outside his pad and didn’t expect so much turn back into him.
The last wicket was a similar effort, with John Hastings caught not far out of his crease.
The guile and variety in his bowling makes Shamsi difficult to read, and he could be a welcome surprise element in the Proteas attack for the three Tests in Australia.
He has paid his dues with the red ball in first-class cricket too, having amassed 272 wickets in 68 matches at an average of 24.90, with 18 five-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket match hauls.
Shamsi was joint-second on the overall Sunfoil Series wicket-takers’ list last season with 41 in seven matches, behind Hardus Viljoen (47 in nine games) and level with Duanne Olivier (41 in seven).
He was two ahead of incumbent Proteas Test spinner Dane Piedt, who took 39 wickets in seven matches.
But what makes Shamsi different from Piedt is that the Titans star is an unorthodox spinner, and left-arm chinaman bowlers who displays his control are rare.
Piedt has tended to be more of a traditional holding bowler for South Africa, with 24 wickets in seven Tests at an average of 36.04. His first-class record is also slightly inferior to Shamsi – 254 wickets in 71 matches at an average of 29.64, with 15 five-wicket hauls and one match “10-fer”.
The last time the Proteas fielded an attacking spinner was with Imran Tahir, and that didn’t work out well. But Shamsi deserves a chance to go on tour to Australia, and perhaps prove himself in the two-day warm-up game on October 22-23 at the Adelaide Oval, and a second two-day game on October 27-28 in Glenelg, Adelaide before the first Test.
– ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@ashfakmohamed