England will consider a change of selection policy in India after their spinners struggled to contain Bangladesh.
With the slow-bowling quartet of Moeen Ali, Gareth Batty, Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari conceding 3.65 runs an over during a frenetic 1-1 series draw in Chittagong and Dhaka, coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook will be urged by influential voices in the dressing-room to go in with an extra seamer at the expense of a spinner.
That would go against Cook’s stated preference for a balanced bowling line-up — three seamers and three spinners — but such was his side’s inability to match the Bangladeshi slow bowlers that there is a case to be made for playing to England’s strengths.
And that would mean going into next week’s series opener in Rajkot with four fast bowlers — Stuart Broad, playing his 100th Test, Steven Finn, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes.
That would in turn place an emphasis on reverse-swing, which played a big part in the 22-run win in the first Test at Chittagong, and could be England’s likeliest route to success in India.
If Cook can be persuaded that the only reason to go in with three spinners is if those spinners are world-class — and the captain himself has admitted England’s are not — then two of Batty, Rashid and Ansari would miss out.
The use of Joe Root’s tidy off-breaks as a third spin-bowling option would not necessarily hamper England. Both he and Rashid have a Test bowling average of 51 (Rashid has 15 wickets to Root’s 13). But while Root concedes only 2.99 an over, Rashid goes for 3.99.
England are also concerned about the prospects for their leg-spinner on Indian pitches. Even Shane Warne struggled here, averaging 43 in Tests, while Anil Kumble — now India’s coach — relied mainly on top-spinners and googlies during a feted career.
The management believe that finger-spinners, who can fire the ball into the pitch quickly enough to induce errors from India’s batsmen, are more likely toprosper.
With that in mind, there are memories of England’s most recent series against India, at home in 2014, when Moeen finished with 19 wickets at 23. If the Indians’ complacency against English off-spin resurfaces, both he and Batty could find themselves in the game more than expected.
ECB security adviser Reg Dickason has played down fears that Moeen and the team’s two other Muslims — Rashid and Haseeb Hameed — could be targeted by right-wing Hindu extremists.
Activists from the Shiv Sena party stormed the offices of the Indian board a year ago in protest at bilateral talks with the Pakistan board, while Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has been kept away from the India-England series.
Though Hameed is a Muslim of Indian descent — his parents come from Gujarat, in the north-west of the country — both Moeen and Rashid are of Pakistani origin.
Dickason said: ‘There are no real concerns, but we’re certainly aware of the issues Aleem Dar has had.
‘According to the ICC he has just been rostered at another event (Australia v South Africa).
‘Shiv Sena had some issues with Aleem and went to the BCCI offices. So we’re certainly aware of that but we don’t expect any real issues.’
Levels of security will be stepped down in India after 2,000 police officers took part in a huge operation in Dhaka last week.
‘In the 20 years I’ve been doing this, it’s probably the most comprehensive security rollout that I’ve seen,’ said Dickason. Asked if similar protection could pave the way for Test cricket to return to Pakistan, seven years after the Lahore attack on the Sri Lanka team, Dickason added: ‘I think it would be unfair to compare environments. No doubt we’ll look at the potential for touring Pakistan but something has to fundamentally change.’
Daily Mail