The left-arm orthodox is a style of bowling used by a left-handed bowler in which finger spin is used to move the ball from leg to off (for a right-handed batsman). These bowlers generally attempt to manoeuvre the ball in the air into a right-handed batter and then turn it away from the batsman (towards off-stump) upon landing on the pitch. Some of the variations of this spin are the top spinner, the arm ball ( also called a 'floater') and the left-arm spinner's version of a doosra.
The left-arm orthodox style brings a lot to the game. For example, left arm bowlers are more likely to take wickets as these kinds of balls are harder to predict for most players. India also has a history of doing poorly against left-arm spinners because of this.
With that in mind, here are some of the best left-arm orthodox players that one can learn from.
1. Rangana Herath: Rangana Herath is a former Sri Lankan cricketer that currently holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken through a left-arm orthodox bowling style. He is considered one of the greatest spin bowlers of all time and is decidedly the most successful left-arm bowler in Test cricket history. He holds the record of best bowling figures in Test matches by a left-arm spinner with 433 wickets.
2. Daniel Vettori: Daniel Vettori comes in second on the list, at 266 test wickets. He is a cricket coach who used to play for the New Zealand team. Currently, he coaches the Bangladeshi national cricket team. Vettori is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs and is the youngest player to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket. Thanks to his bowling style, He is known for his accuracy, flight and guile rather than prodigious turn, and also his speed variation.
3. Derek Underwood: next up is the former English international player, Derek underwood. Regarded as one of the best bowlers in test run, he was practically unbeatable on English seaming wickets, which gave him his nickname, ‘deadly’. He was famous for his consistent accuracy and his inswinging arm ball. He retired from test crocket with 297 wickets.
4. Bishan Singh Bedi: Bishan Singh Bedi is a former Indian cricketer, primarily a slow left-arm orthodox bowler who played test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979. He took a total of 266 wickets throughout his career and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970.
5. Ravindra Jadeja: Ravindra Jadeja is an indian international cricket. He is an all-rounder that bowled primarily left-arm orthodox spins. Jadeja is the first Indian left-arm spinner to take 150 One Day International wickets and went on to become the top-ranked bowler in 2017 and was ranked as the No.1 bowler in ODI Cricket by the ICC in August 2013.