5 reasons why spinners bowl with the new ball

#5 To prey on the opponent team’s weakness against spin

India capitalised on South Africa’s spin weakness in a big way last year

Another scenario where skippers opt to bring the spinners in operation with the new ball is when the batsmen from the opposition team have a known weakness against the turning delivery. This happens mostly in the case of teams that travel to the Indian sub-continent, especially if the hosts are able to sense the chink in their armour.

The plan here is to make the batsmen come face to face with their worst fears early on in the innings and put pressure on them. This threat posed by the spinners often leads them into playing the wrong shots and giving away their wickets.

Teams from countries like Australia, South Africa and England have fallen victim to such plans on a number of occasions during their tours to India and Sri Lanka.