Did India miss a trick by not picking Amit Mishra in their World T20 squad?

One of the most talked-about themes at the 2016 ICC World T20 has been the spin-friendly nature of the pitches. The Nagpur track was a rank turner, Eden Gardens turned into a dustbowl after a bit of rain, and even Dharamsala has been aiding the spinners considerably.

Conventional wisdom suggests that India would benefit greatly from this. After all, Indian batsmen have historically been known to be the best players of spin in the world. And when it comes to the bowling side, there's never been any shortage of quality spinners in the country - bowlers who can spin the most intricate of webs around touring batsmen.

But as we all saw on the very first day of the tournament, playing on a turning wicket doesn't always work to India's advantage. New Zealand out-thought and out-bowled MS Dhoni's men last week, and suddenly, fears of an early elimination came rearing up out of nowhere.

India's spin attack is good, but is it the best?

It would be wrong to blame India's spinners for the loss to New Zealand, or even for failing to restrict Pakistan to less than 110 in Kolkata. Dhoni's spin attack, led by 'The Ring Leader' Ravichandran Ashwin, have actually been doing the best that they can, and have troubled the batsmen whenever they have been given the opportunity.

But have they been the most successful spin attack? India's spinners have accounted for 10 wickets in the tournament so far, which is a solid number but by no means extraordinary. By contrast, New Zealand's spinners picked up nine wickets in just one match, on the Nagpur minefield against India.

It seems to me that the Indian bowling attack is lacking something – something that could bring an element of uncertainty and fear into the opposition batting lineup. And no prizes for guessing what that secret ingredient is.

To my mind, the Indian selectors missed a trick by not picking Amit Mishra (or any other quality leg-spinner) in the squad. A wrist-spinner's value to a side can never be under-estimated, even on a pitch that isn't assisting spin. And on a turning track, it's a complete no-brainer.

A leg-spinner adds substantial value to any bowling attack

First and foremost, a leg-spinner brings variety into the attack. The very fact that he uses his wrist to impart revolutions on the ball, which not only makes the trajectory of the ball different but also gives him more bounce, makes the leg-spinner stand out from the finger spinners. A batsman can never be comfortable facing the completely different spin of a leggie after an over of conventional off-spin.

This is an issue that is particularly relevant to India. When there's Jadeja in the team, why is there a need of having another left-armer in the squad? When there's Ashwin in the squad, what sense does it make to have a second off-spinner on the bench?

It's not just for variation that leg-spinners are useful though. They are also more likely to do well on pitches that aren't assisting turn. They are generally tougher to pick than off-spinners because of their unique wrist action, which means that they tend to be more economical than other bowlers on a batting paradise of a track.

Then there's the fact that a leg-spinner's armoury usually contains more variations than any other kind of bowler. They can bowl the flatter ball, the googly, the slider - some leggies are known to be able to bowl six different kinds of deliveries in a single over.

There's the danger of bowling a loose delivery, of course, with all those variations and that extravagant wrist movement. But in T20 the leg-spinners can get away with that; the game moves so quickly that an odd boundary conceded here and there doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

The batsmen are forced to be more defensive against leg-spinners; very often they look to play out the leggie and attack the bowlers at the other end. That's because a leg-spinner can produce a moment of magic out of nowhere, that can completely change the complexion of the game.

All of these factors are magnified when the pitch is offering turn and bite, the way it's been observed in the World T20 so far. Bigger turn, sharper bounce, the occasional ball keeping low - a leg-spinner can destroy a batting lineup in a matter of minutes with his unique bag of tricks.

The pool of leg-spinners worldwide is running thin

The leg-spinners on show this World T20 have been quite phenomenal, to say the least. We saw how Ish Sodhi tied up our famed batting line-up in knots; he even deceived the brilliant Virat Kohli with a big turner. Samuel Badree, meanwhile, had the unenviable task of bowling inside the powerplays, but he responded by picking up three wickets to leave the Sri Lankan batting in tatters.

The young Rashid Khan from Afghanistan, save for that 29-run over that he bowled to AB de Villiers, has been quite impressive this tournament. And Imran Tahir is always a threat in limited overs cricket, having turned many a match on its head in recent times.

But are there really a lot of young leg-spinners coming up who can make their mark on the game? That isn't quite the case, from where I'm looking. In India there's Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal and a few others, but it's not a very deep pool.

I've seen in my experience that coaches are not usually as patient with leg-spinners as they need to be. At the club level, I've often seen that if a leg-spinner doesn't get immediate success, he is told to try his hand at off-spin or try something else.

But what most people don't realize is that leg-spinners need time to develop. They are not created overnight; they have to put in months and years of practice before they can acquire the kind of control needed to compete at the international level.

You do need to be gifted to be a leg-spinner, that is true. But even the most obvious of gifts need to be honed. A leg-spinner's craft takes longer to be perfected than that of an off-spinner, but that doesn't mean we should discourage their growth.

T20s in India and leg-spinners – a match made in heaven?

As I said earlier, the impact of a leg-spinner in T20 cricket is even greater than usual. They may bowl the odd bad ball and give a few runs, but they are also very likely to pick up a handful of wickets. Even if they give away 8 or 9 an over, the game-changing wickets that they often scalp can make all the difference.

Everyone should be looking at leg-spinners in the domestic scene, but sadly that's not happening these days. The patience and encouragement that are needed to produce world-class leggies is missing, and teams are suffering accordingly.

India would definitely have been well-served with the presence of a wrist-spinner in their bowling attack this World T20. Will Mishra's absence hurt Dhoni's men in the tournament? Although I hope it won't, I'm not sure that leaving him out was the best decision.