Among the many sub-plots that will dictate how the India-England Test series pans out will be the performance of the visiting spinners.
India have built a fortress at home under Virat Kohli’s Test captaincy, with visiting spinners having struggled on the whole come up short on Indian tracks consistently. In fact, since 2015, there have been only five five-wicket hauls by visiting spinners in India (four in one series), as compared to 51 by Indian tweakers, and the disparity has been highlighted in the skewed scorelines, with India not losing a single home series since 2012.
Here’s a look at each of the non-Asian spin attacks to have visited in India since 2015, with the lowdown on how they fared.
South Africa in India, 2015
Spin attack: Imran Tahir (14 wickets @ 21.35, BBI: 5-38), Simon Harmer (10 wickets @ 25.40, BBI: 4-61), Dane Piedt (4 wickets @ 42.50, BBI: 4-117), Dean Elgar (5 wickets @ 27.20, BBI: 4-22), JP Duminy (1 wicket @ 51, BBI: 1-24)
Series result: India won 3-0 (4)
In a series dominated by the home team’s spinners on low, turning tracks, India won all three fully-completed Tests by a considerable margin. India’s spinners took 78 per cent of all their wickets, while South Africa’s wickets spread out among five bowlers – capturing 61 per cent of the wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed six five-wicket hauls between them, while South Africa’s spinners managed just one.
New Zealand in India, 2016
Spin attack: Jeetan Patel (6 wickets @ 48.66, BBI: 2-56), Ish Sodhi (3 wickets @ 49.66, BBI: 2-99), Mitchell Santner (10 wickets @ 52.40, BBI: 3-60), Mark Craig (2 wickets @ 69.50, BBI: 1-59)
Series result: India won 3-0 (3)
At the peak of India’s home dominance, the series was once again headlined by India’s spin duo, leaving the Kiwi spin attack in the shadows. Jeetan Patel, making a comeback after three years at 36, was supposed to shepherd the spin attack on his third tour to India, but managed only six wickets in four innings, the second-best after Santner’s tally of 10. Between the four spinners, the bowling strike-rate ranged from 83 to 141.
England in India, 2016
Moeen Ali (10 wickets @ 64.90, BBI: 3-98), Adil Rashid (23 wickets @ 37.43, BBI: 4-82), Gareth Batty (0 wickets), Joe Root (2 wickets @ 28.50, BBI: 2-31), Liam Dawson (2 wickets @ 64.50, BBI: 2-129), Zafar Ansari (3 wickets @ 54.33, BBI: 2-77)
Series result: India won 4-0 (5)
A batting-dominated series comfortably went four-nil in India’s favour, with the English spinners finding it hard to strike the right lengths, or gain enough purchase off the pitch. Adil Rashid was the most successful bowler and the third-best overall, supported by Moeen Ali, who took ten wickets at 64.90, but their performances had little bearing on the overall series as India racked up mammoth totals.
Australia in India, 2017
Nathan Lyon, (19 wickets @ 25.26, BBI: 8-50), Steve O’Keefe (19 wickets @ 23.26, BBI: 6-35)
Series result: India won 2-1 (4)
This is the only visiting spin attack from the period that managed to go toe-to-toe with India’s tweakers. Steve O’Keefe turned out to be the unlikely star of Australia’s Pune win, picking up two six-wicket hauls in Australia’s sole win. Nathan Lyon went on to claim career-best figures of 8-50, with the success of the pair reflecting in the closely-fought scoreline.
Who should England pick for the first Test against India?@Phil_Wisden, @Jo_Wisden, @Ben_Wisden, @Taha_Wisden and @Sam_Wisden have their say. https://t.co/yPb0D5TcnJ
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 3, 2021
West Indies in India, 2018
Devendra Bishoo (4 wickets @ 78.50, BBI: 4-217), Roston Chase (1 wicket @ 173.00, BBI: 1-173), Jomel Warrican (2 wickets @ 50.50, BBI: 2-84), Kraigg Brathwaite (1 wicket @ 53.00, BBI: 1-47)
Series result: India won 2-0 (2)
At a time when India were moving towards less spin-friendly wickets at home,t Kohli’s side crushed the visitors 2-0, a scoreline that quietly highlighted the rather listless showing of the West Indies spin attack. Buried under a truckload of runs by the Indian batting line-up, only Bishoo managed to take more than two wickets in the series among spinners.
South Africa in India, 2019
Keshav Maharaj (6 wickets @ 85.66, BBI: 3-189), Senuran Muthusamy (2 wickets @ 90.00, BBI: 1-63), Dane Piedt (2 wickets @ 155.00, BBI: 1-101), George Linde (4 wickets @ 33.25, BBI: 4-133), Dean Elgar (1 wicket @ 30.00, BBI: 1-4)
Series result: India won 3-0 (3)
With no Imran Tahir, the bulk of responsibility lay on the shoulders of Keshav Maharaj on his first tour to India. The usually wily left-armer had a tough time of it, though, with India posting 400+ scores in three out of their four innings. The visiting bowlers lacked much bite and were of little threat across the three Tests.
