England is preparing for a demanding five-match Test series in India and Graeme Swann is already working with the England spinners, preparing them for the tour. The series will begin on January 25 with the first Test being played in Hyderabad.
The England cricket team has faced heavy defeats as it faces difficulties in playing with rank changes. However, they were the last team to defeat India in a Test series on Indian soil. They achieved this feat in 2012 with Alastair Cook, who was also the Player of the Series in that Test series.
Graeme Swann played a key role in the 2012-13 Antony de Mello Trophy, where England created history by beating India in a Test series on Indian soil. He took 20 wickets alongside Monty Panesar in the series to help England clinch the trophy by winning 2-1 in the four-match series. Graeme Swann was one of the best spinners England produced in the last decade.
Graeme Swann is currently assisting the England spinners as they prepare for the five-match Test series against India. He has identified uncapped English spinner Tom Hartley as a promising talent with similar potential to Indian all-rounder Axar Patel. Swann believes Hartley has enough potential to be a key factor for England in the Test series against India.
“When I saw Tom in Sri Lanka last winter he had barely played red-ball cricket, but he is in control and sometimes in India you don’t need to be the one bowling the ball the most. You have to be an Axar Patel type bowler, able to run up, be metronomic, put it on the spot, rotate the ball a bit and let the delivery do the work. Let’s not beat around the bush, we are going to play with some absolutely square players after what happened last time.” Swann was quoted by Sportskeeda.
Graeme Swann also points out Rehan Ahmed as a potential threat to India
Graeme Swann also acknowledged the ability of wrist spinner Rehan Ahmed, who always poses a constant threat to the batsmen. However, he stressed the importance of Ahmed building confidence to improve his performance in the series.
“He is a young leggie and on his day he will give you five wickets. We’ve already seen how good it can be. There will be days when he may not come out all that well and it will be expensive, but he will always come out smelling like roses because he is a brilliant character. He has a little bit of swagger and I love that. I want him to start believing in himself more as a bowler. He believes in himself as a hitter, but still not as much as he should with the ball.” Graeme Swann concluded.
England have added four spinners to their squad that will tour India. They have Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir as the spinners for the Indian team. Along with these four spinners, Joe Root He will also be effective as a part-time off-break bowling option. Root is currently the sixth all-rounder in Test cricket. England will face India in Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala respectively in the series.
The Indian team for the test series against England will be announced shortly. It will be quite similar to the team that recently toured South Africa where the series drew 1-1 with India making history by becoming the first Asian team to win a Test match in Cape Town.