Finding high-caliber fast bowlers is quite difficult because a lot of hard work goes into their physical training and ability to deliver fast, accurate bowling. Ultimately, the conditions of the pitch also have an influence on the performance of a fast bowler; if the playing surface isn’t favorable, it’s unreasonable to expect a fast bowler to consistently produce exceptional results.
Although it is not common, some fast bowlers have turned to bowl spin in the middle of a match due to the pitch favoring the spinners. A notable example is West Indies’ Jason Holder, who bowled off-spin in their draw against Zimbabwe.
Let’s examine three examples of times when a fast bowler had to switch to throwing spin balls.
Sohail Tanvir
At the peak of his career, Sohail Tanvir was regarded as one of the top T20 bowlers in the world. However, when he was first starting out, the left-arm pacer proved he had the potential to compete in all forms of the game.
During Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007, Tanvir was selected to play a Test in Kolkata, where the conditions were not ideal for fast bowlers. He then switched to spin bowling and was able to make the ball grip the surface. Unfortunately, injuries hampered his career, and he was unable to realize his full potential.
Ollie Robinson
England used a four-man fast bowling group in the second Test of the 2021-22 Ashes in an attempt to gain the advantage; however, the Adelaide Oval did not provide any help to the quicks and the team had not selected any specialist spinners for the match.
Consequently, captain Joe Root handed the ball to Ollie Robinson, and asked him to act as an off-spinner in an effort to get some success from the pitch.
Jason Holder
Jason Holder is renowned for being a reliable fast bowler for the West Indies in all formats and is also a great batsman. Tagnarine Chanderpaul’s double-hundred enabled the West Indies to take control of the game against Zimbabwe, as their large first-innings score put them in a good position.
Zimbabwe was given a target of 271 to win the game; however, they were losing wickets constantly. Realizing that the West Indies had a strong chance of victory and that the fast bowlers were not getting much help from the fifth day’s pitch, Holder began to bowl off-spin. Even though the West Indies weren’t able to win the game, Holder demonstrated that he had this skill in his arsenal.
