Spinners in Tests vs Spinners in LOs

[Black_Warrior]

Picking different players for different formats is of course nothing new and makes perfect sense. It started around late 90s when Australia decided to split the Test and ODI teams and since then, we have begun to assess players being better suited to one format over another.

However what we are seeing over the last few years is a massive gulf in performance/records for spinners who are excellent in one format but fail to even get picked in another.

A quick look at the previous generation of spinners

Warne - better Test bowler than ODI but still a handy ODI bowler, who played regularly until his doping ban.
Kumble - better Test bowler than ODI but still a regular ODI pick
Murali - equally good across formats
Saqlain - better ODI bowler than Tests but still was a lead spinner in Tests for some time
Harbhajan- arguably a better Test bowler but still player over 200 ODIs and played both formats regularly

Now a look at current spinners

Tests

Herath - only played 71 ODIs without much to show for
Ashwin - 300 Test wickets, minimal impact in LO cricketer, currently dropped
Jadeja - Number 1 Test spinner, not even in Top 20 ODI spinners
Yasir - Over 150 Test wickets, unable to make it to LO side
Lyon - Excellent test bowler, unable to get picked in LO side
Maharaj - Very good test performances lately and SA's 1st choice Test spinner
Imad Wasim - Top ranked LO bowler, unlikely to play Test cricket


LOs
Tahir - Number 1 T20 and ODI bowler for some time, minimal test credentials
Adil Rashid - England's 1st choice spinner for LO cricket, unlikely to play another test match
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav - India's choice now for LO spin option
Shadab Khan - Pakistan's choice for LO spinner
Zampa - Australia's LO pick
Sri Lanka also tend to pick Dhananjaya and Vandersay for LO cricket



It's not really about a guy who is better in one format over another like Starc (ODIs over Tests) and Steyn (Tests over ODIs), what strikes is a completely different set of bowlers dominating one format, who are at the bottom in the other format and vice versa

I was interested to know what the factors are. What separates Yasir Shah and an Imran Tahir? A Jadeja and Imad Wasim? Has something changed in LO cricket that makes the likes of Ashwin, Yasir, Herath redundant in LO cricket? What are some of the technical differences in skillset that leads to this gulf?

 

[Zinzan]

You missed perhaps the most obvious one for this discussion - Daniel Vettori. His bowling was absolutely world class in white-ball forms, but you could not say the same of his Test bowling.

 

[Daemon]

In LOs, the pressure to score off every ball these days means batsmen are rarely playing balls on their merit and there's more premeditation (not just in shot selection but also in placement), which means variations in turn and pace become more and more effective. Might explain the rise of wrist spin in LOs.

The latter group also tends to bowl flatter and quicker. Maybe because it's easier to even mistime anything flighted for six these days.

 

[stephen]

Warne - better Test bowler than ODI but still a handy ODI bowler, who played regularly until his doping ban.

This will go down as the understatement of the century. Warne was a crap ton better than "handy". That flipper was lethal.