3 reasons why England's 4-spinner strategy could be a good move
England head coach Brendon McCullum, renowned for bringing a renewed way of playing Test cricket to the Three Lions, has suggested that they will think of playing four spinners in the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam starting on Friday.
In the first Test in Hyderabad, which England won by 28 runs, they had played three spinners (Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, and Rehan Ahmed) along with Mark Wood. However, in the second Test, they may add Shoaib Bashir to their ranks and push India out of their comfort zone.
Very rarely has a touring side chosen to go with an all-spin attack in the subcontinent, and it will be interesting to see if the visitors do it.
In this listicle, we bring to you three reasons why England's four-spinner strategy could be a good move:
#1 It will surprise India
One of the biggest reasons why England's strategy to play all four spinners in the Vizag Test will work is that it will surprise India.
The home team may have gotten used to the idea of the Three Lions playing with a lone seamer in Hyderabad, but they will have to devise new ways to counter an all-spin attack. With no one to swing the new ball and take the shine off it, India will have to be prepared to play spinners from the get-go.
While openers Yahasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma have shown that they can tackle the English spinners, the Indian top and middle order have not been so successful. It will be a good test for these batters against England's all-spin attack.
#2 It might work on the Vizag pitch
The last time that India played a Test in Vizag was in 2019 against South Africa. Although they won the game by 203 runs, notable performances came from both spinners and seamers.
While Ravichandran Ashwin bagged a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, Mohammed Shami picked up a fifer in the second.
For South Africa, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj was moderately successful in both innings. This goes to prove that the pitch at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium will be spin-friendly.
If the visitors do choose to play a four-spin attack, they could be successful given that this track is known to start turning from the second day itself.
#3 It will allow England skipper Ben Stokes to rotate his bowlers
Playing four spinners as opposed to three will give England skipper Ben Stokes the opportunity to rotate his bowlers well and rest the others who need breaks.
In Hyderabad, Stokes had to resort to bowling Joe Root, although it was no coincidence that the latter performed extremely well. In Vizag, however, Stokes will have the option of four spinners under his belt whom he can pick and choose as he wishes.
Not all of those bowlers will be taken kindly by the Indian batters, and in case they do have a poor run, they can be rested, rotated, and brought back into the attack by Stokes.