Bangladesh are touring India with Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Nayeem Hasan – the strongest spin attack to visit the country for a Test series in the 21st century.
When the West Indies came over in 2018/19, Bangladesh gave out a Test cap to a teenager called Nayeem Hasan. After Bangladesh made 324, Nayeem – the fourth spinner of the attack, at Chattogram – finished with 5-61 the first time he bowled in Test cricket.
Nearly six years have passed since then, but Nayeem has played only 10 Test matches. He has 36 wickets at 27.47 and three five-wicket hauls – impressive numbers by any definition – but he has not bowled a single ball in Test cricket outside Bangladesh. The three spinners ahead of him in the side - Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, mean they have one of the deepest spin attacks in the world.
As with several other parameters across formats, Shakib tops the all-time Test wickets chart for Bangladesh, with 242 wickets at 31.31. Among spinners to tour India in the 21st century, he is also one of the most prolific in the format. Taijul (195 at 31.92) and Mehidy (174 at 32.72) are not far behind. And if they play all three and one of them is indisposed, there is always Nayeem to step up.
The spinners in the current Bangladesh squad make their attack the second-most prolific to tour India in the 21st century. They have brought experienced spin attacks to India twice before. Had Shakib toured, the 2019/20 attack would have featured higher on the list.
This time, however, they are behind only the Sri Lanka spin attack of 2009/10 – and one man was responsible for 783 of Sri Lanka’s 850 wickets. As we shall see, Bangladesh’s attack is more rounded.
Only seven teams in this century toured India with a spinner who has taken more wickets than Shakib. Muralidaran and Shane Warne appear twice on the list, while Nathan Lyon, Rangana Herath, and Daniel Vettori appear once each.
However, of the seven, five (including both of Muralidaran's and Warne's tours) were in 2010/11 or before, while only one (Australia in 2004/05) went on to win the series.
In 2004/05, Warne was backed by a pace attack befitting of one of the greatest sides of all time. As Warne wheeled away at one end, the fast bowlers were relentless at the other, against a strong India batting side. However, that is not the norm. Barring Lyon in 2022/23, none of the others on the above list had a pace support that strong.
Meanwhile, the India spinners – there were almost always at least two of excellent pedigree – would bowl in tandem to take down the touring batting units. To counter that, the best bet of touring sides has always been a pair of spinners. On Indian surfaces, using two quality spinners in tandem is likely to yield results; unfortunately, very few touring sides have managed to bring two experienced spinners.
Taijul leads this by the proverbial mile, but at second place is an interesting entry – Monty Panesar for the 2012/13 tour. Swann (192) had overtaken Panesar by that point, but between them they wreaked havoc. Since Australia in 2004/05, England in 2012/13 remain the only side to have beaten India in India.
At this point, Taijul has more wickets than either of Swann or Panesar had ahead of the 2012/13 tour. And, if their recent triumph to Pakistan is anything to go by, he is not an automatic choice if Bangladesh play two spinners. Mehidy’s excellent run with the ball, combined with his batting credentials, has helped him secure the second spinner’s berth.
Mehidy, of course, has been the second spinner before, in 2019/20, when Taijul had 105 – but as mentioned above, that attack did not feature Shakib. This time, he may have to step into the shoes of Shakib, whom he had outbowled in Pakistan.
What is more, the pitches in India are very likely to be different from the Pakistan surfaces. Bangladesh may need to play all three spinners. Since Shakib and Mehidy can both bat, one can see the point of that. India, after all, are very likely to play three spinners as well.
A comparison of the third-best spinners for every 21st-century tour of India bears a lopsided look. As is evident, Mehidy has more wickets than the next five put together.
If one goes by experience, Mahmudullah was third on the list among spinners on their two previous tours. That role will now be fulfilled by a bona-fide spinner with four times as many wickets.
We began this piece with Nayeem, Bangladesh’s fourth-most prolific spinner. His tally of 36 wickets is more than anyone (barring Mehidy, of course), in this list of “thirds” – just like Mehidy would have featured above anyone barring Taijul on the list of “seconds”.
To sum up, if Bangladesh play one spinner, they will still have one of the most experienced spinners in recent times. If they play a second, they will already have the most prolific spin pair to tour India in the 21st century. And if they pick all three, it will be an attack the pedigree of which India has not hosted in more than two decades. And the fourth is reasonably good.
And to think of it, their seamers took 21 of the 36 wickets on their tour of Pakistan...
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