India vs England: Why is it nearly impossible to score big runs against R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel on turning tracks

“You can see that Jadeja always bowls quickly early in his spell to get into his spell and afterwards changes the pace,” said Panesar. In addition to bowling quicker through the air Indian spinners tend to be hitting the stumps consistently. “They are going to bowl wicket-to-wicket. I think 35-40 per cent of the deliveries will hit the wickets,” adds the 41-year-old.

Why can’t visiting spinners replicate what Indian spinners do?

Though there is a blueprint for spinners to bowl when in India, which is to bowl quicker through then reaping rewards has been few and far between. “When they are bowling quicker you lose shape (ability to bowl above the batter’s eye line and creating a doubt if he has to come forward or not) on the ball if you want to bowl quicker you still need to have shape on it.”

When bowling quickly spinners might also lose their accuracy resulting in bowling boundary bowls and not letting the pressure pile on Indian batters hence bowling slower balls is preferable for many spinners as it tends to give more control. “When you bowl a bit slower you can get good shape on the ball.” However, Panesar reckons the problem that it brings is that when the ball is slower, the batter has that extra time to adjust even if he misreads the delivery.

“Even if you beat them in the air because there is not much pace of the wicket on Indian pitches even if it spins one can adjust,” he says.

Rishabh Pant’s 91 in the first Test in Chennai 2021 though in a losing cause typified the approach the Indian batters tend to take against the visiting spinners. While there was rough outside the off-stump of the left-hander, every time Jack Leach tried to land the ball on the spot Pant would dance the track and hit him for a maximum not letting the spinner settle down. “Thought I was playing in the IPL!” Leach hilariously said at the time. “As a spinner, you have to expect that at times. But I’m never going to enjoy 8 overs for 80,” he added.

Panesar believes that the aggression shown by Indian batters tends to put a lot of pressure on spinners. “They don’t want the spinners to bowl with a good shape on it, good dip, good drop. That’s the danger ball for the Indian batters. So they will come after you so that you fire it in, just bowl into the pitch and don’t put that shape on it. And it is easier to pick the length and then they will milk you all day.”

Creative fieldsets

Kevin Pietersen’s 186 in Mumbai is arguably one of the best counter-attacking innings a visiting batter has played on Indian soil. The batter made 338 runs at an average of 48.29 back then. While he was looking to take on the spinners, the inexperience of Ashwin and tired legs of Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha had no answer to the assault throughout the series.

Fast forward over a decade, there has been significant change. Joe Root is technically one of the sound batters against spin bowling. He can rotate the strike at will and can bring out the sweep shot and make the bowlers re-think their strategy and not let the bowlers settle down. When he made the magnificent double ton in Chennai, his method worked like a well-oiled machine. However, post that the batter was not allowed to sweep at all. “The sweep shot is a lot easier when the spinner bowls it a bit slower. Cause when you bowl slower you can reach out for the ball,” Panesar would theorize.

“They are also very creative Ashwin and Jadeja are always changing the fieldsets. They always have different tactics and different game plans so that the batters cannot settle,” the former England spinner said.