The craze for cricket, especially in India, is at its peak. Whether it’s a boy or a girl, everyone loves playing cricket. But without knowing about the base position or the way of playing the games, it seems uninteresting. Leg-spin and off-spin are the two most prevalent styles in cricket.
Leg Spin vs Off Spin
The main difference between leg-spin and off-spin is that leg-spin is defined as the ball spinning on the right side after hitting the pitch directly in the field. On the other hand, off-spin is when the ball spins on the left side after hitting the pitch in a cricket match.
Leg spin is the act of delivering spin to cricket balls with the bowling arm’s leg side backhand during the delivery stride execution phase. A person who is a specialist in bowling is called a leg spinner. These players are crucial to the match because of their skills and abilities.
An off-spin is a ball that spins in the inverse direction as an off-break and tends to turn from the leg side. A person who is a specialist in off-spin is called an off-spinner. This technique makes the match winnable by using the maximum bowling by the spinners in the game.
Comparison Table Between Leg Spin and Off Spin
| Parameters of Comparison | Leg Spin | Off Spin |
| Style | Leg spin players use forearm and body rotation to impart more turns. | Off-spin players use their wrists and fingers to impart turn onto the ball. |
| Spin Type | The player spins it towards the batsman | The player spins the ball away from the batsman. |
| Bowling | The leg-spin players bowl at a faster pace in the game. | Off-spin players bowl at a slower pace in the game. |
| Learning | Leg spin has many variations that take time to learn the skill. | Off-spin is quite easy to learn and has fewer variations. |
| Direction | Leg spin delivers the ball in a clockwise direction. | Off spin, deliver the ball in an anti-clockwise direction. |
What is Leg Spin?
Leg spin is a vital part of cricket today, and it has been so for the past century. It is one of the most popular bowling skills in cricket, and one that separates a good bowler from a great bowler.
Leg spin is a term that describes the action of spinning the cricket ball with the leg rather than the arm.
The origin of the term “leg break” comes from the fact that bowlers will catch the ball in their hand and break or slightly bend the ball with their fingers before delivering it. It is also called “Chinaman bowling” in certain parts of the world. It is an art form.
When a bowler can repeatedly bowl out batsmen with one type of delivery, it’s cause for serious admiration and a touch of awe.
Leg spin causes trouble for right-handers but is often a weak card in the hands of the left-arm, who needs to work hard to provide the necessary control over flight and line.
This is probably the most complicated type of bowling to master. Shane Warne, the leg spinner, is famous for the Ball of the Century because of his bowling style and delivery in cricket games.
What is Off Spin?
A delivery that spins the ball from the leg away is known as an “off-spin.”
This bowling technique is very crucial in this sport. Underarm bowlers use it to deliver a top-spinner or leg-spinner. Fast bowlers may also bowl off-spin when they are not able to get the ball above medium pace.
Off spinners tend to be slower through the air than some other types of bowlers, and they make their mark by bouncing more sharply and with more dipping and swerving.
There is a specialty in off-spin and off-spinners where some players deliver the off-spin bowling, converting it into a skilled leg-spin called the style doosra.
The ball is bowled by slightly rotating the wrist at different points during the bowling action.
The majority of deliveries are created with the front of the hand.
However, some might be made with the back. Some off-spinners are competent at delivering good bounce and turn with their deliveries, especially when bowling at or just outside the tramline, but conversely, some can generate little or no bounce at all.
Muthaiya Muralidhar is the best off-spinner by taking 800 wickets with this skill. His 800th wicket was against playing partner Pragyan Ojha of India.
Main Differences Between Leg Spin and Off Spin
- Leg spin players have great control over their accuracy and can get wickets by spinning it nicely. Off-spin players, on the other hand, have little control over the accuracy of their rotation.
- Leg-spin is more likely to turn back onto the stumps than off-spin, which tends to turn away from right-handed hitters.
- Leg spin is a finger-based bowling style where a bowler usually bowls with the sidespin. Whereas off-spin is a wrist-based bowling style, the ball usually tends to have less movement in line and more bounce on the flat.
- Leg spin players bowl with a lower trajectory and bounce the ball. However, the Off-spin players bowl with a higher trajectory and bounce the ball.
- Leg spin is delivered by rotating the ball while moving it away from the batter and towards his pads. On the other hand, even if the delivery line is outside off stump, off-spin is bowled by grasping the ball between the index and middle fingers on top of the seam and spinning it in.
Conclusion
While most of the bowlers in this generation try to know off-spin and leg-spin techniques, in reality, there are only a few on whom we can rely to deliver consistently.
A few of them are famous due to their consistency and improvisation during matches.
Though every bowler has his style and weaknesses, here we give you the top five bowlers who have immense potential.
A player with good command of this art can turn the match in his favor with a well-planned strategy by under-estimating the batting team.
Leg spin is unique as it has its theory of delivery, whereas off-spin completely relies on the flight and bounce to trouble the batsman.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14763141.2016.1161819
- https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/cpa/article/view/5268