What has made Akeal Hosein a high demand T20 SLA bowler and how must he improve
Akeal has signed several T20 league contracts in recent times, but his magic has begun wearing off. So what should be next?
Post-pandemic, Akeal Hosein has had a purple patch in T20 cricket, particularly in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Across 3 seasons he’s taken 32 wickets averaging 15.84 at an economy rate of 5.44, standing tall as the league’s best slow left-arm orthodox bowler currently by a comfortable distance.
The patch extended over to the international level last year, taking 18 wickets at an average of 27.78 with an economy rate of 7.04.
T20 franchises took notice, and he got 5 overseas league gigs in the space of exactly 7 months, starting with the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL).
Followed were contracts with the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the International League T20 (ILT20), the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the Washington Freedom in the newly inaugurated Major League Cricket (MLC) respectively.
So how was this possible?
For starters, he nails all the basic things you’d want to see in an SLA bowler, that being accuracy, speed, and ability to turn the ball.
Genetics are also on his side with a high release height of 2.15 meters, making him one of the tallest SLA bowlers on the T20 circuit.
The high release point allows him to generate extra bounce off the surface and additional turn due to his height.
Taller spinners are also able to land the ball with greater force onto the pitch, a big component in getting the ball to grip more off the surface.
He’s also able to get a good amount of drift with the new ball, which is why we often see him bowl with the new ball for the Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL and for the West Indies.
The drift, turn, and extra bounce he generates are big reasons why he’s been able to maintain a powerplay economy rate of 5.18 in the league post-pandemic and is the only SLA bowler to have taken wickets in the double-digits (12) in this phase.
This is complemented by him typically looking to attack the stumps, and keep LBW in play by bowling a wicket-to-wicket line to invite batters to play high-risk shots such as the sweep or slog.
Akeal can also do this while cutting down many angles with the various trajectories he bowls at with a wide range of speeds, even capable of bowling in excess of 120 KPH and getting it to skid through, with his variations including the arm ball and topspinner.
However, most of his overseas league opportunities haven’t gone as well as he would’ve liked them to, with 2023 already turning out to be his most expensive year in T20s thus far: an economy rate of 7.72 averaging 35.88.
Akeal was only able to pick a solitary wicket across the 3 PSL matches he bowled in at an economy rate of 8.91 across 11 overs, and in the one IPL match he played for the Sunrisers against the Delhi Capitals, though he took the wicket of Mitchell Marsh, he went at 10 runs an over throughout his full quota.
Beginning to show inconsistency in his bowling, it’s a clear indicator his purple patch has worn off.
So what does he need to work on?
Akeal is an attacking SLA bowler, but the problem is he is probably too attacking, especially prevalent in the penultimate over against Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots last season when Sherfane Rutherford and Dewald Brevis took him downtown for 30 runs.
He has no consistent restrictive qualities in these situations, such as looking to drag his length back and look to bowl an ideal T20 defensive length of 5-6 meters away from the stumps; he keeps looking to attack the stumps and get the ball to skid through or turn and bounce away to deceive the batter.
But if he does look to take it away from the stumps when being attacked, he does not exhibit the same control and accuracy he has and ends up conceding wides, a clear indicator of smashing the panic button, doing the first thing that comes to mind to stop the onslaught at a high state of arousal, going against the principles of the Yerkes-Dodson law.
And for the sake of West Indies’ campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup at home and more importantly Akeal’s, it is vital he adds restrictive qualities in his bowling to begin showing better consistency once again.
Though Akeal most certainly remains the first-choice finger spin option for the West Indies, the night certainly changes very quickly.
Kevin Sinclair and Gudakesh Motie are two fellow finger spinners who’ll also be competing for spots in the final 15-man squad, and depending on how each of their respective CPL23 seasons unfolds, Akeal may possibly find himself no longer as the Windies’ go-to option.
However, this is the league’s best SLA bowler we are talking about, who is also up there as one of the best in the format.
It is merely a matter of Akeal Hosein improving his defensive attributes and not being as attacking as a medieval warrior whose honor and pride are tainted if you defend in combat on the battlefield, for even in a format where how attacking you are matters the most these days, it is not shameful to know how to defend yourself on the T20 cricket battlefield, for that is equally as important.