The case for England picking a second seamer in India

The breakdown of numbers across the two bowling sides makes interesting reading two Tests into the series.

Going against almost every pre-series prediction, England’s remarkably inexperienced spin attack has more than held its own against their storied Indian counterparts. In Visakhapatnam, with Jack Leach ruled out of the Test and Joe Root out of rhythm and picking up an injury to his little finger, the vast majority of England’s spin bowling was delivered by the trio of Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed, and Shoaib Bashir – a group with three Test caps and 85 first-class wickets between them.

Up against R Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, England’s youngsters more than held their own. In fact, a raw analysis suggests they even outperformed their opponents. Across the Test, even in defeat, England’s young spin group averaged 33, seven runs per dismissal lower than the Indian tweakers.

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Over the first two Tests, no spinner across the two sides has a lower average than Hartley. Ashwin (499 Test wickets) and Rehan (15 Test wickets) both average 36. Every spinner England have used has an economy rate lower than each of India’s slow bowlers.

There are contributing factors here that go beyond the innate quality of the deliveries bowled by the respective spinners. The two sides have had contrasting methods in counteracting slow bowling. English batters have been aggressive in trying to displace catching fielders by scoring quickly at the start of their innings, though this has also occasionally contributed to their downfall as well. India, Yashasvi Jaiswal aside, have been passive, generally allowing England’s young spinners to find their groove. Players regarded as strong players of spin such as Shreyas Iyer have been tentative, giving the likes of Hartley and Rehan a footing in the game.

But, looking at the stats tables, something else jumps out. Leading the overall averages are two seamers – Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson. Those two are also third and first in terms of economy rate respectively, with Leach sandwiched in between.

Bumrah has been irresistible. He was the difference between the two sides in Visakhapatnam and has been the chief reason why England’s engine room of Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have been kept relatively quiet so far. Bumrah averages 10 and Anderson 15 so far in this series. With only one spinner (Hartley) averaging less than 30, it begs the question as to whether England ought to include another seamer.

The obvious retort to that suggestion is, ‘have a look at who those seamers actually are’. Bumrah is indisputably the number one cross-format bowler of his generation, while Anderson, now in his 42nd year, has long been one of the most skilful seam bowlers not just in familiar home conditions but in Asia, too. Mark Wood, Mohammed Siraj, and Mukesh Kumar – the other seamers deployed this series – have one wicket for 188 runs between them.

That said, England do have someone who can perform a similar role to Anderson in their midst. Less than a year ago, Ollie Robinson had moved into the top four of the ICC Test bowling rankings. He went toe-to-toe with Anderson in similar conditions as to what England experienced in Vizag on last winter’s tour of Pakistan, taking nine wickets at 21 on a succession of unhelpful surfaces. He has both the skill and the accuracy to exert a level of control England have lacked on occasion in the first two Tests. Another miserly exponent of the reverse-swinging ball would arguably give England threat and control, especially in the first innings.

The problem, though, is that it’s not immediately clear how they could fit Robinson into the XI. The main difference between this tour to India and last winter’s trip to Pakistan is the deficiency of all-round options. In Pakistan, England had Stokes, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone as all-rounders to balance their XI, and even gave Ollie Pope the gloves for the second Test when Ben Foakes was available for selection in an attempt to squeeze another bowler into the team. It’s the reason why India can field two seamers as well as three spinners; at least one of their spin bowlers bats in the top six.

It is also not obvious who would miss out if they were to leave out a spinner either. Hartley and Rehan are their two leading wicket-takers, and have provided more than helpful lower-order runs in both Tests. Replacing Rehan, for example, would weaken the batting as well as the variety of the bowling attack. Should Leach recover in time in time for the Rajkot Test, it would be a huge call to leave him out. He has served Stokes manfully across his reign and has been backed at every opportunity. He remains the most dependable spinner at Stokes’ disposal and has rarely, if ever, had a bad Test in the last two years.

But then England are left once more with an attack that – along with Root – contains four spinners, and while that serves them well for second innings on disintegrating pitches, it leaves them with fewer modes of attack earlier in the game. There is a clear case for changing the balance of the attack but it would be a brave decision to leave out any of the spinners who have done a more than decent job so far.