It is no secret that Dane Piedt had a nightmare in India on this Test tour. Despite his gritty showing with the bat, Piedt's bowling, the primary skill for which he is in the team, was shambolic, so much so that questions are raised on whether he is the worst spinner to tour India for a Test series.
Seeing Dane Piedt Is Getting Beaten Badly.....
— Omkar Anpat💛🔥#91📱 (@IamOmkarAnpat) October 19, 2019
Soon His Name Have To Be Converted As "Dane पीडित"#INDvSA
Piedt was the whipping boy for most of India's batsmen and the off-spinner was removed from the side after a horrible first Test where he leaked runs at economies of 5.6 and 6.0 respectively in either innings, respectively.
With Keshav Maharaj injured, Piedt returned to the XI for the final Test but the treatment dished out to him remained pretty much the same. Rohit Sharma was his tormentor-in-chief as the Indian opener lambasted Piedt for 11 sixes in the series.
A record 19 sixes in this series for Rohit Sharma
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) October 20, 2019
Sixes off
11 - Piedt
5 - Maharaj
2 - Ngidi
1 - Nortje#IndvSA #IndvsSA
In 106 balls in the series to Rohit, the South African spinner conceded 133 runs including nine fours in addition to the eleven sixes.
Piedt, put under immense pressure, failed to respond well enough. He was either all over the place with his line and length or bowled flat with little threatening turn. Under the pump after the first few overs in the series, he never really recovered to trouble India enough.
He ended the series with the most unremarkable of figures. 54 overs, 7 maidens, 310 runs and 2 wickets.
For someone expected to don the role of the second spinner, his returns were unexpected and downright pathetic. His economy in the series will be the worst by any spinner in a Test series in India (minimum three innings and 15 overs in the series).
|
Worst economy rates in a series in India by a spinner |
|||||
|
Player |
Innings |
Overs |
Wickets |
Average |
Economy |
|
DL Piedt (SA in 2019) |
3 |
54 |
2 |
155 |
5.74 |
|
JP Duminy (SA in 2010) |
3 |
23 |
1 |
114 |
4.95 |
|
Muthusamy (SA in 2019) |
3 |
37.3 |
2 |
90 |
4.8 |
|
GJ Maxwell (AUS in 2012) |
3 |
41 |
7 |
27.57 |
4.7 |
|
E Leadbeater (ENG in 1951) |
4 |
48.1 |
2 |
109 |
4.52 |
|
RL Chase (WI in 2018) |
3 |
39 |
1 |
173 |
4.43 |
|
IDK Salisbury (ENG in 1992) |
3 |
52 |
3 |
76.66 |
4.42 |
|
NM Lyon (AUS in 2012) |
6 |
127.1 |
15 |
37.33 |
4.4 |
|
MDK Perera (SL in 2017) |
5 |
107.1 |
8 |
58.62 |
4.37 |
Incidentally, the second and third-worst numbers are also from South Africans with Senuran Muthusamy from this series occupying the third place behind Piedt and Duminy in 2010.
What compounded Piedt's woes was his inability to eke out wickets as well. Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin were his only two victims in the entire series. Given the statistical evidence, it is hard to argue that Piedt isn't the worst ever spinner to tour India.
Featured image courtesy: AFP / Money Sharma
