Indian spin cycle may take England to the cleaners

Ashwin is the most successful Indian spinner at home against England in Tests, picking up 74 wickets so far (Reuters file image)

Spinners are expected to hog the limelight whenever there is a Test match in India. It will be no different over the next seven weeks, when India hosts England for a five-Test series starting in Hyderabad on January 25.

In the last two series between India and England in the subcontinent in 2016-17 and 2020-21, India dominated, winning 4-0 and 3-1, respectively, with spinners picking up a lion’s share of the haul, with 135 kills. India’s ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s contribution with the ball in these two series were a combined 60 wickets, while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took 26 in the 2016-17 series.

The absence of Jadeja helped Axar Patel earn his maiden Test cap against England in early 2021. He impressed straightaway on the turning tracks of Chennai and Ahmedabad, and collected 27 wickets in three matches.

These three, along with left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, are expected to pose a threat to the Englishmen, among whom Joe Root is the most experienced batsman on the Indian pitches, having come on three earlier tours  — 2012-13, 2016-17, and 2020-21.

India is certain to go in with at least three spinners in each Test as they would find the pitch conditions to their liking. There will be little in them for pacers, except when the ball is hard and new, or later, when the ball becomes old and the conditions aid with reverse swing.

It is a known fact that batsmen have an issue with the ball turning away, and right-arm off-spinners are effective against left-handed batsmen, and left-arm orthodox spinners taste more success against right-handers, as do left-arm wrist spinners against the left-handed hitters. It is not to say that regular off-spinners have not troubled right-handers, or that left-armers haven’t dismissed left-handers. But that’s usually when the ball keeps a straight line and the batsman plays for the turn, only to be foxed, or the batsman misses a sweep and gets the edge.

Ashwin is the most successful Indian spinner at home against England in Tests, picking up 74 wickets in three series – 14 in 2012-13, 28 in 2016-17 and 32 in 2020-21. Among the batsmen from the current English crop, he has dismissed Stokes nine times and opener Ben Duckett thrice — both are left-handed. Ashwin has also dismissed Root and Pope, England’s prolific batsmen, four times each, and Jonny Bairstow thrice, proving his proficiency against right-handers as well.

At 337 Test wickets in India against all countries, Ashwin is certain to take at least 14 more in this series and move ahead of the legendary Anil Kumble (350) for the most wickets by a spinner in India.

While Yadav has played only two Tests against England in India and picked up three wickets, the left-arm spin duo of Jadeja and Patel have been successful in the past against England in India. The former in the 2016-17 series, and Patel three years ago, forming a fiery pair with Ashwin on both occasions.

The Englishmen have often struggled whenever the ball has turned, and it has been evident in the results. Root is one of the better players of spin and has scored close to 1,000 runs on Indian soil, at an average of 50.11. England will bank on his vast experience in tackling spin.

Their skipper Stokes has also had decent success in India, averaging 32.24, and with his team adopting the aggressive Bazball approach, it is going to be an exciting contest between the English batsmen and the Indian slow bowlers, where the absence of a leg-spinner is conspicuous.

Bairstow, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope were all part of the last Test series in India, with Bairstow being exposed against the spin, falling for three noughts in four innings. However, Bairstow will be on his fourth tour of England, like Root, having played in one Test in 2012-13 and being among the top scorers in 2016-17, tallying 352 runs at an average of 44.

One batsman who would have been exciting to watch and could have been the ‘X’ factor for England is right-hander Harry Brook. Brook, who is yet to tour India for a Test, had tremendous success in Pakistan in his maiden international season, scoring a century in each of the three Tests while amassing 468 runs.

However, on Sunday, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that Brook would not be available for the entire series due to personal reasons. Brook had a taste of Indian conditions when he played in IPL 2023 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, and also in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup last year end. It is a major blow for the Englishmen, and Indian bowlers will now have a smile on their lips as they have one less thing to worry about.

The English spin attack is weaker and relatively inexperienced, with only left-handed Jack Leach having played a decent number of Tests. He has picked up 124 wickets in 35 matches, and has previously toured India in 2021, taking 18 wickets.

Among the other spinners in the English line-up is leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who has played only one Test so far, in Pakistan in 2022-23, and picked up seven wickets. He could be an exciting prospect and trouble the Indian batsmen, who of late have not been among the best players of spin bowling.

The other two spinners in the England line-up are uncapped Shoaib Bashir, right-arm off-spin, and Tom Hartley, left-armer.

It will also be a case of England pacers versus Indian batsmen. The England pace attack is led by James Anderson, who is on his sixth tour of India since 2006. The 41-year-old has taken 34 wickets in 13 Tests in India, and is sixth in the list of most wickets taken by overseas pacers in India. If he takes 10 more in this series, he could become the leader of pack (Courtney Walsh is at 43, Wesley Hall 38, John Lever 37, Andy Roberts 37, Malcolm Marshall 36 — all West Indians, except Lever, who is an Englishman). However, when the list is expanded to include overseas pacers in India only from the year 2000, Anderson tops the charts.

The five venues to host the Tests in the next one and a half months – Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala – are all batting tracks  initially, with spinners dominating as the match wears on. In the 12 Tests played at these five centres, pacers have taken 125 wickets while the spinners have taken 226.

Among these centres, England has played a Test each at Rajkot and Visakhapatnam, both being the inaugural Tests at these centres. While England drew in the Saurashtra region and lost in the coastal city of Andhra Pradesh, both in the 2016-17 series, they are yet to play in Hyderabad, Ranchi, and Dharamsala. In the two Tests involving England more than seven years ago, the spinners from both sides took a combined tally of 47 wickets, while the pacers picked up only 21.

Indian spin will hold the aces, but one should never underestimate Englishmen.