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Todd Murphy, the off-spinner who troubled Indian batters including Virat Kohli on his maiden tour of India is unlikely to feature in the Australian side for World Test Championship (WTC) final. But Murphy is looking to add a new weapon – carom ball – to his arsenal ahead of WTC final which has been mastered by veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
"I am still working on that (carrom ball) but I am still a long way off being able to do it the way Ravi Ashwin can," Murphy was quoted as saying by 'cricket.com.au'.
"It is simple in a way, and yet so difficult. It is just about being confident that you can execute it. I'd love to be able to add that myself one day.
"If you have a delivery that goes the other way it just poses different challenges for the batsmen," he added.
Perfecting the stock ball
In Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Murphy took 14 wickets from six innings at an average of 25.21 including a seven-fer on debut in Nagpur. The 22-year-old is also looking to perfect his stock delivery.
"You are always looking at ways to tinker and add things to your kitbag but in Test cricket you have to make sure your fundamentals are really good and your stock ball is in as good a position as you can,” the young off-spinner said.
Murphy also revealed that he would freeze-frame the point of release of Ashwin's bowling action to work on variations to keep the batters guessing.
Learning what Ashwin does
"That is the best part of analysis now that you have access to that the whole time," the Victoria-born cricketer said.
"I was really interested in watching that sort of stuff and get a close-up look of his hand and wrist position, just to see how each ball was coming out and if it was behaving differently.
"In those conditions his skillsets are as good as anyone and it was amazing to just watch the subtle variations he is able to implement in sequencing throughout his overs."
Waiting for opportunities
With Lyon in the team as their main spinner, Murphy is likely to warm the benches barring spin-friendly conditions. However, Murphy is hopeful of making full use of every opportunity he gets.
"Obviously at the moment 'Gaz' (Lyon) is there and has been so good for so long. In a way I hope I don't have to play a game on this tour because that means he is staying fit and on the park and our quicks are standing up as well," Murphy said.
"It is a squad mentality. Hopefully I can add value to the squad, train hard and keep developing my skillset. If there is an opportunity that arises I have to make sure I am in a really good position to take it.
“I've got to be ready at all times. A lot of things can change and they can change fast.”
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