Is it fair to say that since you have retired, England do not have a world class off-spinner who can bowl dangerously in Tests?
England have been struggling with spinners since I finished. Although they have some good bowlers. Moeen Ali is a very low rated off spinner. He could have taken more Test wickets. The main issue is the way the spinners are captained and looked after in England. This is demonic. A lot of captains in English cricket don’t understand how a spinner works, what his mind should be like during the game, what should be his field setting. I was lucky to have a captain who let me take responsibility and take control. Andrew Strauss was exceptional. He let me stay in his area and would come with suggestions from time to time. I was a very friendly, confident character who suited me. In the past, the English way was always to be very, very negative… I always thought it was the other way around: as a finger spinner, you must build pressure quickly. Your first 10-15 deliveries to a batsman are the most dangerous for you when the batsman hasn’t read you.
Jack Leach has taken just 10 wickets at Headingley and praised the captain Stokes and Coach McCullum. Are things changing?
Yes. Change in management could turn things around for the spinners here. Baz McCullum as a coach has been brilliant so far. The confidence that players build, when you have a coach who supports you and Ben Stokes has a captain who is happy if you set the ground on the offensive… it makes you believe in yourself . This may work in favor of the leech. In edgbastonWell, you can see some good spin bowling from England. It’s a wicket that definitely turns and Jack should be confident.
Ashwin did not play in the first four Tests of this series last year, and he has just recovered from a match. covid,
What kind of bowler is he? Spin Professor. He overthinks sometimes but he knows what he is doing and he knows what he is going to do at Edgbaston. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a tall bowl in the second innings. It has been a hot, dry and dusty summer. One thing that foreign teams sometimes do in England is to overload their team with fast bowlers. It may swing, but I’m not expecting too much seam. The wicket will be oriented towards England’s middle order batting. India spinners will enjoy Edgbaston if Leach gets 10 runs at Headingley. India will be crazy about Ashwin not playing
Is there any kind of perception bias when it comes to team selection for different formats? Do selectors do pigeonhole spinners too easily and too early in their careers?
Yes. Of course people dove into one format or the other and then find it tough. A lot of bowlers come and they are only seen as T20 bowlers. They are even happy to bowl with the white ball, in fact they don’t want to bowl with the red ball! In England we have Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali who are our world class white ball specialists. He doesn’t enjoy bowling with the red ball! However, Moeen had recently indicated that he would retire from Tests to play for Stokes. says more about Joe RootCaptaincy than Ben! Also, I don’t think modern spinners are attracted to Test cricket because it is hard work. Being a spinner in Tests is really hard on the fingers, on the body, on the mind, and it doesn’t pay off well as a short fix in four overs. IPL contracts, hundred contracts, they pay very well for half the work.
If you could play selector, would you put Yuzvendra Chahali In that Indian Test team?
I’d sit down with Yuzi and I’d say, ‘What is this? Do you want to play red ball cricket for India?’ If he does, I’ll put him on the team directly. I think he is world class, in my opinion he is the best spinner in the world. His control, bowling leg-spin in very tough conditions, especially when the ball gets dew on him and gets wet, is unbelievable. There is no more difficult place to bowl in the evening than in India.
Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
So the best spinner is not playing Test… What does this say about Test selection in general?
Well, I must say Yuzi is the best white-ball spinner, because we don’t know if he can be the best red-ball spinner! But it shows that some cricketers have been pigeonholed into the white-ball format. As far as the relevance of the test is concerned, I still think it is quite healthy. As teams become more aggressive, the passion for Tests is rekindling. England is playing an exciting brand of cricket. I hope Baz McCullum’s ethos will carry over to the Indian team and other teams across the world. It’s a way to bring back the crowd.
Can all teams afford to juggle like England at the moment?
I think India Under (coach) Dravidian Will play a more traditional form of Test than England. Last year this time India was a far better Test team than England. But it will be exciting if more teams like England can change the personnel and mindset. This would be good for the test.
On another note, does India have a top-order problem?
India has a top-order issue if Rohit Sharma No, but you have Pujara who can open. The real problem is with England. Their openers could not score a single run!
(Watch live coverage of the fifth Test between England and India on Sony SIX (English), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi), and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels starting July 1 at 3:30 PM Used to be).