I love leg spinners.
I may not be as passionate about them as
JRod but I still love them.
They make the game exciting to watch.
Those subtle few steps to the crease, the twirl of the arm, the rip of the fingers, the flight of the ball, and that bamboozled batsman who sees the ball spin across him and past the off stump - very few sights beat this one in cricket.
Since Shane Warne retired last year, I have been waiting for a leg spinner to emerge who would make cricket as exciting to watch as Warne did.
The Aussies took Beau Casson to the Windies and I remember tuning into the test late one night just to watch a new leg spinner bowl.
Considering he was Warne's apparent long term replacement, my anticipation was high despite warnings from JRod that he wasn't all that.
Casson hardly impressed.
The IPL provided a lot of excitement as there were a lot of leggies in action.
I watched Warne all over again, along with Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, and the Warne understudy at the Rajasthan Royals - Dinesh Salunkhe!
But the IPL provided only 4 overs each from them. At the most. That wasn't enough for either of these bowlers to show what they were all about.
A leg spinner needs a stage to perform and that stage is Test cricket.
I was still looking for that 1 leg spinner to emerge.
Ajantha Mendis provided a lot of excitement in the India - Sri Lanka test series over the summer, but he's not a leg spinner.
Exciting yes, but in a different way. Its his mystery element that makes him exciting. There's no rip, no twirling of the arms, no oohs or aahs.
Great bowler that Mendis, but not the leg spinner I had been waiting for.
When the Australian test squad for the ongoing India - Australia test series was announced, there was one name there that I had seen do the rounds of
Cricket with Balls for the last year.
That name was Bryce McGain.
He was a leg spinner. He was from the same state as Shane Warne. He had had a successful domestic season in Australia.
And he was to debut at Bangalore.
JRod had gone on about him for over a year so I was sure that he was something to look forward to.
That leg spinner whom I had been waiting for was finally here.
Almost!
A shoulder injury booked McGain a flight back to Australia.
Cameron White, the Victoria captain and also a leg spinner, was sent to India to replace him.
I had first heard of White a long time back when in one article it was mentioned that he was the next blonde leg spinner that would take Australia by storm.
That was a long long time ago as since then White had become more of a batsman and only a part time leg spinner.
Watching White bowl in the 1st test at Bangalore was fun. He brought a lot of passion into the game as was evident when he took that wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. His first.
But that excitement, that rip, that wrong one, the one that pitches on leg and goes past off, the oohs, the aahs were all missing.
It was never expected to be there to begin with.
The wait for that leggie had to continue I thought.
When news regarding Kumble's fitness did the rounds before the Mohali Test, I thought India would go in with 3 seamers and Bhajji.
Which is why on Friday morning, I was surprised to see Amit Mishra in the XI.
That led the blood cells racing again. Another leg spinner to debut.
I had first seen Mishra in the IPL and had been impressed by him.
Bak then, I had also wondered why Piyush Chawla was playing internationals and not Mishra.
When Mishra took the ball in his hand yesterday, I glued myself to the TV.
Yet another leg spinner was going to bowl his first ball in test cricket. I wondered if he was the leg spinner I had been waiting for all this time.
His first over told me he could be.
His third over, where he bowled Katich off an inside edge, got me thinking that he was definitely the one who would make test cricket as exciting as Warne did.
His 9th and the day's last over, where he trapped Clarke plumb in front with a googly, made me realise that Mishra was it.
Finally I got what I had been waiting for.
Finally test cricket had unleashed another leg spinner who will make it exciting to watch.
Finally the world will see another bowler take a few steps, twirl that arm, rip those fingers, flight that ball, pitch it on leg, and spin it across the batsmen.
Occassionally, the world will also see the wrong ones, and the flippers, and we will all ooh and aah in anticipation of a wicket.
He is playing this test due to an injury to Kumble. Mishra's future probably depends on Kumble's fitness but I hope India can find ways to keep him in the XI despite Kumble's presence.
Because to do otherwise will be gross injustice to the talent this man possesses.
I have been waiting for you Mishra.
And I don't want to wait anymore.
No ageing star should need to announce his retirement for you to make that spot in the XI your very own.
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