How to Bowl Like Shane Warne
Shane Warne is a former Australian leg-spinner who still plays domestic T20 tournaments for different franchises. The Victorian bamboozled even the best of the batsmen in the game throughout a 15-year long international career, picking up more than a thousand wickets at the highest stage of the sport. He had the ability to turn the ball a long way and also developed a deadly ‘slider’ towards the later stages of his international career, which helped him nab many wickets. Although Warne made it look easy, leg-spin bowling is considered one of the most difficult arts in the game of cricket, requiring immense natural ability and years of hard work to pull off.
Instructions
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1
Have a steady approach towards the bowling crease
The run-up is usually not considered very important for finger spinners; however, it becomes crucial for a leg-spinner to have some sort of momentum at the time of delivery.
Warne had a very different kind of run-up, as compared to most of the other great leg-spinners, like Anil Kumble, Abdul Qadir or Mushtaq Ahmed. The legendary Australian bowler used to walk towards the bowling crease gently, but gathered momentum in his jump for the delivery stride. -
2
Grip
Some bowlers have a very complicated grip, but Warne holds the ball simply with his index finger and the middle finger. He uses the thumb to support the grip, while the fourth finger is used to impart spin on the ball. It is crucial to note that Warne is a wrist spinner, and the fourth finger assists the wrist in putting more revolutions on the ball. -
3
Spin the ball in your hands
In order to get your fingers and wrist working efficiently, you should spin the ball whenever the ball is in your hands. This is the ideal way for a leg-spinner to practice releasing the ball sharply. -
4
Accuracy
During his international career, Warne was considered one of the most accurate leg-spinners, and if you wish to bowl like him, you should be able to pitch the ball in good areas consistently. The best way to develop accuracy is to bowl as much as possible in the nets.
You can ask a wicketkeeper to catch your deliveries without a batsman on the crease. Every good spinner does this regularly. -
5
Rotate your body on the front toe
In order to spin the ball sharply, it is imperative that a leg-spinner rotate his whole body on his front toe when delivering the ball. If you want to bowl like Warne, you should also have some sort of a follow through.
