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Originally Posted by cricinfo He is unusual among a breed that defies convention: what is, after all, a normal legspinner? Tall and gangly, although his frame has filled out a little, Kaneria's action is all freewheeling arms and often it looks ungainly. When he runs in the field, he can be Bambi-esque, but his height ensures that he can extract bounce – a valuable currency for any legspinner to possess – on most pitches. In addition, he has developed enviable control since his debut, and as he pinned down the Sri Lankans in a tireless spell between lunch and tea, he further hauled back their run rate, after dismissing Jayasuriya in the morning.
As much as the bounce and turn – and it can be substantial – it is his attitude that is heartening. He is permanently enthusiastic – sometimes overtly so, as he was when he appealed for a brief period on almost every ball - but he doesn't easily tire, mentally or physically. Every ball he sends down, you sense, he wants and expects a wicket, and if it doesn't come, then there is always the next ball. And many balls didn't conjure a wicket for him in the afternoon session, but he didn't lose heart. He knew perhaps that he could produce, as he did, a spell of three wickets in 26 balls after tea.
He may not have the variations, or the mystery about him, that Qadir or Mushtaq did, and he doesn't flight the ball as much either. But by leading a depleted and inexperienced attack in a game that needed something special from him, he not only put Pakistan on the brink of victory, he also proved that like them, he too can be a matchwinner. And maybe, just maybe, he can be a proud inheritor of a wonderful legacy. |