Leg Spin is a rare art and not everyone gets to do the talking with that craft. You may know about a flurry of off-spinners reigning across the world, but when it comes to leg-spin, not everyday you get to know about an Anil Kumble, a Shane Warne or a Rashid Khan. With the kind of power that is needed for turning the ball, it is not easy for every player out there to replicate the feat.
This story is about a young leg-spinner who has turned the game on its head and has been troubling the batters, in fact, world’s finest, in the ongoing edition of the tournament, particularly in the WPL. It won’t be long before she can start knocking on the doors of the national side.
Here is how it all started for Parshavi Chopra to hit the hard yards
In an interview, a young Parshavi Chopra’s intimate ones opened up on how things changed from being an attempted fast bowler to the leg-spinner that she has turned into. However, before her, it was her coach, Vishal Bhatia who opened up on the exact proceedings, adding, “Before the WPL, we were working on target bowling, bowling in [various] situations, and when to use the googly,” Bhatia tells ESPNcricinfo. “She didn’t bowl the googly much in the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup. But now she is confident in bowling the googly and reading the batter well.”
He continued, “You can be needed in the powerplay or the death overs. We worked on what ball to use when and how to read the batter by looking at her stance. I told her that you shouldn’t play the name, but play the batter – it so happens you bowl to someone looking at their reputation – and the situation.”
This is what Chopra’s closer people had to say about her life’s new trajectory
Chopra’s father said, “I never let her compromise with her cricket but I compromised on her studies,” Gaurav says. “She was very good in her studies. But to achieve a goal or target in life, you have to focus on just that one thing. If you try and do multiple things, you won’t get as much success.”
JP Nautiyal who later coached Chopra, said, “Her body was very flexible because of the stretching, which is part of skating,” Nautiyal says. “Her wrist position comes naturally to her. We had to work on her lines and lengths. But she grasps things quickly and works really hard for hours together.”
The only girl child in the family, Chopra was intrigued after watching videos of Australia legspinner Shane Warne’s bowling. She took an immediate liking to his action and was upset for a few days after he died last year. But through her steady rise and eye-catching outings in the WPL, she is keeping the flag of legspin flying high. Life took a decent turn for Chopra after WPL happened and now with such impressive figures throughout the antiquity of the tournament, she will definitely have a bright future to look forward to an impressive future. She will need proper coaching and definite nurturing if things are to happen for her in the near future.
