Karn May Make Debut
It will be interesting to see what spin combination the Indian think tank goes with in the first One Day International match against England that will be played in Bristol.
Normally, India goes with the duo of Ashwin and Jadeja irrespective of the conditions, but, there’s word around that the uncapped leg spinner Karn Sharma, who has been included in the Indian team for the first time, has made quite a good impression on the team management and he might be playing come tomorrow.
Karn has not been a huge performer in domestic circuit in India, but, in the last two editions of the Indian Premier League, he has bowled really well. He was pretty decent for the India A side on the recent tour of Australia as well.
The thing about Karn is that he is a leg spinner who bowls quite fast and turns the ball too. There have not been that many spinners in the game who have had this potent combination. Anil Kumble was a fast leggie, but, he didn’t use to get that much of spin off the surface. He was more dependent on his variations like flippers and googlies and all.
Karn might not be as versatile as the legendary Kumble, but, he gets fair amount of turn at the speed of around 90 kph which is very handy especially in limited-over cricket where the batsmen look to go after you most of the times.
Also, the English players have been traditionally weak against the leg spinners. Shane Warne has been very successful against them and so has been Stuart McGill, another Aussie. So, it would be worth it to give Karn a go.
Karn has 49 wickets to his name in 25 first class matches.