Did you know that till 2017 the best bowling figures for an overseas bowler was Lance Klusener’s 8/64 at Eden Gardens in 1996? And it took Australia’s Nathan Lyon – an off-spinner – 11 years to better it than 8/50. In 2008, debutant Jason Krejza also took eight wickets for 215 runs. However, four years after his Lyon performance, New Zealand’s Ayaz Patel – another tweaker – claimed all ten – 10/119 at the Wankhede to top the list.
Two years later, Australia’s 22-year-old debut off-spinner Todd Murphy on Friday took a five-wicket haul, the second-best figures for an overseas spinner, in the opening Test of the 2022-23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur. On debut after Krejza’s effort. He ended the first innings with 7/124.
Historically, Indian batsmen have been known to be better players of spin and these conditions are the death knell for any foreign spinner touring India. However, the perception has changed in recent times with untested spinners troubling the Indian batsmen more often.
Have Indian batsmen become less adept at playing spin or have foreign spinners become better prepared for Indian conditions? A little bit of both, if we dig deeper into the numbers.
Drop in bowling averages against overseas spinners vs India
2001 to 2012 – Considered the ‘greatest series ever’ in 2001, until the start of the 2012 England series, which was won by the pair of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar India En route to a famous series win, the Indian batsmen averaged 45.48 against the spinners. In comparison, the fast bowlers fared better during that phase with an average of 38.87 against the pace of the Indian batsmen.
But, since 2012, the average has dropped to 41.41 against spinners and 42.22 against fast bowlers.
While the Tweakers managed ten five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket match haul from 2001 to 2012, from 2012 the number has increased to 14 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket match hauls. The corresponding numbers for fast bowlers are 7 and 1 (2001–2012) and 8 and 0 (2012 onwards).
Clearly, there has been a slight dip in how the Indian batsmen have taken on the spinners at home, but cumulatively there is no clear sign of concern. Eventually, India dominated at home, winning 15 consecutive series.
When Swann-Panesar shocked India
The last series loss for India – was against England in 2012 in which Swann and Panesar claimed 20 and 17 wickets each in the 4 match series, outclassing their Indian counterparts, and setting up a famous victory. Of course, while Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen led from the front with the bat, it was Panesar’s decisive spells (6/81 and 5/129 at the Wankhede) and Swann’s tireless discipline that led India to victory.
Credit to India though after that series, the Indian tweakers really didn’t let their overseas counterparts progress in the later rounds. However, there have been instances of Indian batsmen fumbling with overseas tweakers – and not necessarily their frontline spinners – but for understanding.
Murphy is the latest understudy to baffle the Indian batsmen – and coincidentally enough Swann has been impressed with his bowling approach and even the pace at which he bowls, with the off-spinner showing that if you’re a good bowler, you can buy can be maximized. wicket regardless of the fact that it is ‘theory’ for a certain type of bowlers. On the second day in Jamtha, Murphy outclassed his mentor, and arguably one of the best spinners of all time – Lyon.
eijaz perfect ten
It was also only a few years ago that New Zealand’s Patel – playing only his 11th Test and third in the subcontinent – entered the history books with a 10-wicket haul at the Wankhede – only the third bowler in history to do so . With the result of the match already decided after India bowled out NZ for 62 in the first innings, an overseas spinner who took all ten wickets against India in India spoke of an anomaly.
Part-time spinner Joe Root similarly shocked India in the 2012 Anthony de Mello series in Ahmedabad, a dustball that saw the match end in two days and the spinners losing 28 of the 30 wickets. While Axar Patel was unbeaten, and returned to the match with 11 wickets, Joe Root claimed 5/8 in the only innings played by India. All the overseas spinners returned with 37 wickets in four matches.
Steve O’Keefe’s Pune Magic
The 2017–18 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was another series in which the overseas spinners made an impact. The Pune Test – the series opener and 32-year-old Steve O’Keefe, playing only his fifth Test – claimed match-figures of 12/70 to hand India their first home defeat since 2012. Once again, it was not that O’Keefe spun the ball viciously or that the pitch had enough support, the tweaker was successful in trapping the Indian batsmen with his moves. Here too, Lyon was the senior spinner, but Gazza finished the series equal to O’Keefe with 19 wickets – two less than Ravichandran Ashwin’s 21 and five less than the leading wicket-taker in the series – Ravindra Jadeja (25).
Dan Pete who?
In 2015–16, South Africa’s Imran Tahir and Simon Harmer had reasonable success against the Indians, with Tahir taking 14 wickets and Harmer 10. Tahir took 6 wickets in the Nagpur and Mohali Tests, while Harmer took 5-5 wickets in both the Tests. Ashwin however was sensational in the series with 12 wickets in Nagpur and 8 wickets in Mohali. But it was Dane Piedt, an off-spinner playing only his second Test, who troubled India in the Delhi Test – he took four wickets making use of the low bounce and slow nature of the Kotla track. His victims – Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. His next stay in India was in 2019 in which he bowled 54 overs and conceded 310 runs and took two wickets. Since then he has not played a single test.
killed by shane shillingford
Shane Shillingford of the West Indies also enjoyed bowling against India in the 2013–14 series and on a pitch at Eden Gardens – the spin-assisted off-break bowler restricted India to 83/5, claiming four wickets – Vijay, Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli. He added two more in the innings, but Rohit (177) and Ashwin (124) put on 280 runs for the seventh wicket to give India sleepless nights. Shillingford would go on to take a five-wicket haul in the next match at the Wankhede. However, his performance did not go unnoticed by the whole of India and probably the eyes of the cricketing world were on SRT – it was his last Test match.
In Lyon’s first series in India after droughts in Chennai and Mohali, he confirmed his status as Australia’s leading spinner with 7/94. In 2009-10, Sri Lankan left-arm orthodox Rangana Herath surprised India by going ahead of the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan.
Then of course Kreja had eight wickets, but at the cost of 215 runs at Nagpur 2008. He took 12 wickets in the match, but at the cost of 358 runs. But, his tally is still the best for a debutant bowler against India. Murphy is already more than halfway through, and unlike Krejza, looks the real deal. If Australia’s batsmen can survive well enough to give Murphy a second crack at this pitch, he could potentially overtake Krejza’s match tally as well.
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