BLM

Every ball in this India-WestIndies series seems to be going over the rope and then there is Gudakesh Motie! out of all the bowlers who have run in during these 4 matches, exactly one has economy under 9: Motie, at 8.87. yesterday in Hyderabad India were chasing 248, Samson gave India a flying start, Abhishek was in. Motie came on, gave 13 runs in 2 overs and took out Abhishek and Naman Dhir. Chase never recovered and West Indies won by 24 runs. Nobody will remember that spell as much as Shai Hope's hundred, but game turned on those 12 balls. And this is not new for him. In 2026 he has 16 wickets at 7.95 economy. Among all full member bowlers who have bowled 250 or more deliveries this year,only 1 spinner has taken more wickets than him with a better economy, Liam Dawson. He flights the ball when everyone else is firing it in flat, and he has that arm ball that skids on. Now he has started bowling wrist spin to left handers too(Remember Bethell in T20 World Cup 2026?) He is also perhaps the best batter among all specialist bowlers across formats right now. Nobody asked him to add any of this. He just keeps working on himself. You can trace it back if you want. A small boy from Belvedere, nicknamed Little Motie because he was barely taller than stumps at that time, who had to learn flight and drift because he could not rely on height. He fixed a passport error that made everyone think he was related to Rohan Kanhai and stopped carrying someone else’s name around. Now he carries his own.

Put Roston Chase name on a team sheet and T20 is not the first thing that comes to mind. Tall,unhurried,bowls his offspin like he has all day. In Tests his best bowling figures are better than Ashwin's and Jadeja's and his highest score of 194 is bigger than what Rahane,Travis Head and Pant have ever managed. So most of us tag him as a red ball player and stop thinking about him. But look at what he does for West Indies in white ball cricket. Since 2024 he has taken 37 T20I wickets at economy of 7.73. Not exciting I know. Now line him up against Kuldeep,Adil Rashid,Zampa and Maharaj over that same stretch and Chase economy is better than every one of them. In ODIs in this decade of 2020s it's the same story again. 37 wickets in 45 innings, econkmy of 5.05, tighter than Kuldeep,Zampa and Rashid. He also wins matches, not just overs. Since 2024 he has picked up 5 Player of the Match awards in T20Is and no other West Indies player has won as many in that period. Will he get you wickets in bunches like those spinners? No. What he gives is control, the kind of work that lets rest of the team breathe and you only spot it if you are looking. Even after more than 10 years in international cricket and almost an equal number of games across all 3 formats,fans still haven't given him his due. He is also on the verge of 5000 international runs and 200 wickets. Very few players have managed both in last 10 years. So next time he comes on to bowl, put your phone down and count the dot balls instead of sixes. Just watch him bowl. Nothing dramatic will happen andthat is the whole point.