Monty Panesar said England captain Ben Stokes would want India to attack Leach, Ahmed and Hartely and give their wicket away.
England have gambled on many fronts by picking three spinners for the first Test against India in Hyderabad. They have taken for granted that the pitch will turn from Day 1 and turn big. They didn’t pick James Anderson, the world’s leading wicket-taker among all pacers. With Ben Stokes not bowling, they have only four specialist bowlers with the part-time off-spin of Joe Root being the only other option. Above all, two of their three spinners have a combined experience of one Test. Tom Hartley will be on debut while leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed has just played one match in Pakistan.
India don’t have Virat Kohli, who will miss the first two Tests due to personal reasons but in Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer they have many players who love to deal in boundaries, especially against the spinners. Chances are high, they won’t let the inexperienced England spin attack settle. Former England spinner Monty Panesar, however, believes Stokes won’t mind that. In fact, the former left-arm spinner said England would want India to attack Ahmed and Hartely and give their wicket away.(HT)