Lyca Kovai Kings (LKK) leg-spinner Jhathavedh Subramanyan (24) was the breakout star of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) in 2023. Subsequently, he got picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It’s business as usual for him in the ongoing eighth TNPL season now, as he’s been one of the most economical bowlers (5.56), who’s also claimed seven wickets in the league stage. In Kovai’s season opener versus Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG), he had only conceded runs at an astounding rate of 2.75 with 13 dot balls from his full quota of four overs (4-0-11-1).
His fine showing may be partially attributed to his increased match awareness that he puts down to consistently playing matches. Jhathavedh was with Siechem Madurai Panthers (SMP), where he didn’t get any match to play for two seasons. He was picked by Kovai last season and has since played all the matches, a luxury not many have.
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“Well, there’s match awareness that increases the more you play. And there are learnings about what ball to bowl when. I think the more one plays, the more one will improve and get better in that aspect. So, that certainly has been a big takeaway. From the start of last year and this year, just a bit of match awareness for sure. And knowing what to bowl when has improved and hopefully will continue to improve in the future as well,” he said over phone on Monday.
Jhathavedh is someone who wants to keep playing at any cost. For instance, in his second year at Durham University, he had broken a finger on his right hand in 2018 and instead of taking a break from bowling, he simply switched to bowling left-arm orthodox spin!
“Actually, what happened was, I broke my finger. It was just a freak incident in 2018. It was on my right hand. But I wanted to keep playing cricket. And because I love cricket a lot, I just wanted to bowl left-arm spin.
“So, I kept bowling left-arm spin. And yes, I enjoyed it for quite a while. I was bowling left-arm spin in the Durham MCCU nets. And our coach then, Paul Grayson (former England cricketer), was really backing me. He was supporting me to be ambidextrous.
“So, only for like a few months in between (until he totally recovered), I was just bowling left-arm spin. Once my finger got all right, then I went back to leg-spin and I was bowling some left-arm spin in between.
Lyca Kovai Kings bowler Jhathavedh Subramanyan against Nellai Royal Kings. | Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E/ The Hindu
“I bowled one over (of left-arm spin) against Northamptonshire. I was just going to bowl leg-spin. But then, it was my teammates who said, ‘Why don’t you bowl one over of left-arm spin?’ It was towards the end of the day. And there was one University game against Loughborough as well, where I bowled a little bit left-arm. So, I was bowling with both arms in that one match against Loughborough. And I also played one tournament, some u-19 tournament, around that time in Hong Kong (his country of birth, which he’s represented) as a left-arm spinner.
“To be honest, I feel like if somebody can bowl left-arm spin and leg-spin well, if you analyse each batter, you have a different option. But it’s very tough to bowl with both arms very well. It’s quite a challenge. But yes, it’s a different angle, right? So then, it just adds a bit of variety.”
But he’s abandoned left-arm spin now. “I’ve given it up. I don’t do it anymore. And the funny thing is, there are actually quite a few boys also in the Tamil Nadu (cricket) field who are ambidextrous.”
His stock delivery is the leg-break and his variation is the googly. He’s not working on any new variation, and wants to stick to a consistent bowling action. Simply put, he wants to continue doing what’s been working for him, instead of trying too much.
“I try and ensure that my action is as repeatable and it’s as consistent as possible. Then, automatically, the outcome will be good. But if there is a variation in my run-up or run-up speed or run-up angle or position in the delivery stride, then it’s a bit tougher to get consistency (in performance).”
In fact, he had a straighter run-up which was changed to a Ravi Bishnoi-like angular run-up by former India leg-spinner L. Sivaramakrishnan and former India analyst S. Ramky.
The angular run-up is for him to be as side-on as possible and impart greater spin on the ball.
“LS and Ramky suggested for me to go at an angle. And the reason for that is to get into more of a side-on position. It just makes it a little bit easier. And for me, anyway, I’m a side-on bowler. So, it just makes it easier to be balanced and impart more spin on the ball.”
He’d been teammates with mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy at Siechem Madurai Panthers and the TNCA first division side Vijay CC.
On what he’s tried to imbibe from him, he said: “I’ve spent quite a lot of time with him. He’s a bit more unorthodox. I guess I’m a bit more orthodox. But one thing which he does really well is that he bowls a brilliant line. And he’s got a very deceptive googly. So, I think that’s something to learn from him from a cricket-specific point for sure.”
He even echoes Varun’s opinion that TNPL is an easier tournament for finger-spinners since the black-soil pitches are conducive for spinners who can skid and impart sidespin on the ball.
“Yes, definitely. I think in Chennai, you do see a lot of left-arm spinners. I know it’s a different format, but I think in the first division (TNCA league) last year, out of the top-10, all of them were left-arm spinners. So, yes, I think the pitches are a bit more conducive to more sidespin.”
Broadly, on the bowlers he looks up to, he said: “When I was young, watching the Hong Kong Sixes (six-a-side tournament), Shane Warne was a big inspiration for me.
“Laxman Sivaramakrishnan as well, from whatever little I have seen. Obviously, he played before I was born in 1999. So, whenever I can watch clips of him, I like watching those.
“And I also really like watching Ashwin bowl. I just like how he keeps trying new things and keeps the batters from guessing.”
It’s not just the bowlers he learns from, but also from the batters. Speaking about his IPL experience with SRH, where he has Daniel Vettori as the head coach and Muttiah Muralitharan as the spin-bowling coach, he said: “It’s amazing to interact with these legends of the game. I learnt so much from them. And also, not just from the bowlers, but from the batters as well. I try to speak to the batters as much as possible and try to pick up things from them, to see things from a batter’s perspective as well. So, those little things, I keep in mind when I bowl. I try to inculcate it in the match.
“I guess T20 cricket has evolved over the years. Before, it was a bit different, and now, it’s also about varying the pace, your angles, and trajectory. And you are going to have to keep into account the dimensions of the ground as well when you make these changes. So, (I picked up) about these little things when I spoke to the batters. I have spoken quite a bit to Mayank (Agarwal) as well. These are the conversations that I’ve had - about changing pace, trajectory, being stump-to-stump, and keeping the batters guessing with my googlies and leggies.”
Jhathavedh got to bat in a tense situation versus SKM Salem Spartans in Kovai’s last round-robin match. He came in at No. 11 as Kovai needed two runs off five balls with one wicket in hand. He played out two deliveries and got beaten once, before holding his nerve to take a tight single. Kovai went on to win the match.
“I used to bat in junior cricket and all. I batted up the order. Obviously, when you are batting at the end, you can’t really afford to play any loose shots. So then, I just wanted to wait for when the ball was there (to take a run). And even if I face a few dot balls, there’s no issue. I was just trying to stay as calm as possible and wait for the right ball, and just take it deep and not try anything rash early on. Because, we had five balls to use,” he said.
Tamil Nadu selector Rahil Shah has said that a modern T20 cricketer has to be at least two-dimensional. With reference to it, asked if he’s working on his batting, Jhathavedh said: “Without a doubt, I think you need to be two-dimensional. During IPL, I was bowling a bit more. Before that, yes (was working on batting). And certainly, it’s something to work on in the future.
“Within bowling as well, I think it’s important to be able to vary your speeds; to be able to dart the ball in, as well as spin the ball too. So, I think from that perspective, even within bowling you need to be two-dimensional.”
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