View source for Left-arm orthodox spin

{{Short description|Type of left arm bowling in cricket}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}

{{Bowling techniques sidebar |expanded=all}}
[[Image:Slow left arm small.gif|thumb|right|A left-arm orthodox spin delivery]]
[[File:Slow left arm bowling Keedy and Parry, 2012).ogv|thumb|right|[[Lancashire County Cricket Club|Lancashire]] players [[Gary Keedy]] and [[Stephen Parry (cricketer)|Stephen Parry]] bowling left-arm orthodox spin in the [[2012 Friends Life t20]]]]
'''Left-arm orthodox spin''' or '''left-arm off spin''', also known as '''slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling''', is a type of [[spin bowling]] in [[cricket]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/cricket/skills/newsid_3207000/3207491.stm|title=How to bowl left-arm spin|date=30 October 2003|access-date=21 June 2019|website=BBC News}}</ref>
Bowlers using this technique bowl with their left-arm and a [[finger spin]] action. Their normal [[Delivery (cricket)|delivery]] spins from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when it bounces on the pitch.

Left-arm orthodox spin bowlers generally attempt to drift the ball in the air into a right-handed batsman, and then turn it away from the batsman (towards off-stump) upon landing on the pitch. The drift and turn in the air are attacking techniques. The normal delivery of a left-arm orthodox spin bowler is the left-arm orthodox spinner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-Nlc7pRXo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/2O-Nlc7pRXo| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=MasterClass: Left arm spin bowling with Nadeem|date=17 October 2013|access-date=21 June 2019|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The major variations of a left-arm orthodox spin bowler are the [[topspinner]] (which turns less and bounces higher in the cricket pitch), the [[arm ball]] (which does not turn at all and drifts into a right-handed batsman in the direction of the bowler's arm movement; also called a 'floater') and the left-arm spinner's version of a [[doosra]] (which turns the other way).

==Notable slow left-arm orthodox spin bowlers==
Players listed below are included as they meet specific criteria which are generally recognized as having achieved significant success in the art of left-arm orthodox spin bowling. For example, leading wicket-takers, and inventors of new deliveries.
* [[Rangana Herath]] – 433 Test wickets (highest by a left-arm spinner in all men's Tests), 74 ODI wickets and 18 T20I wickets
* [[Sanath Jayasuriya]] – 98 Test wickets, 323 ODI wickets (highest by a left-arm spinner in all men's ODIs)
* [[Daniel Vettori]] – 362 Test wickets and 305 ODI wickets
* [[Derek Underwood]] – 297 Test wickets
* [[Ravindra Jadeja]] – 309 Test wickets and 220 ODI wickets
* [[Saad Bin Zafar]] - 72 T20I wickets, 31 ODI wickets, and the first bowler to bowl 4 maiden overs in a T20I match
* [[Bishan Singh Bedi]] – 266 Test wickets
* [[Shakib Al Hasan]] – 246 Test wickets, 317 ODI wickets, 140 T20I wickets (the 2nd highest in [[Twenty20 International|men's T20Is]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283194.html |title=Records / Twenty20 Internationals / Bowling records / Most wickets in career |work=ESPNcricinfo |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> and 317 ODI wickets
* [[Ravi Shastri]] – 151 Test wickets
* [[Keshav Maharaj]] – 177 Test wickets
* [[Ashley Giles]] – 143 Test wickets
* [[Taijul Islam]] – 204 Test wickets
* [[Jess Jonassen]] – 141 ODI wickets and 96 T20I wickets
* [[Sophie Ecclestone]] – 109 T20I wicket
* [[Hedley Verity]] – 10-10, best bowling figures in a first class inning <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/best-figures-in-an-innings-209288 | title=FC matches &#124; Bowling records &#124; Best figures in an innings &#124; ESPNcricinfo }}</ref>
* [[Ajaz Patel]] – Only left-arm spinner to take 10 wickets in an innings of a Test Match
* [[Monty Panesar]] – 167 Test wickets
* [[Gudakesh Motie]] – 35 Test wickets (11 matches)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Left-Arm Orthodox Spin}}
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