How English spinners have out-bowled Indian counterparts in their own backyard

New Delhi [India], February 6 : As the England squad touched base in India for a five-match Test series, hoping to reverse their record of not winning a red-ball series against the Asian giants in 12 years, few would have thought that their spinners would not only out-bowl the likes of Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel but would also out-fox the batting stalwarts in the Indian squad.
While the pre-series talk was around the Indian spinners and how they would make life difficult for the English batters, many of whom were all at sea against them during the last visit, it ended up being quite the opposite as the visitors, reposing full faith in their ultra-aggressive, positive and result-oriented 'Bazball' approach made India's spinning aces sweat for wickets in the opening Test in Hyderabad and the second in Vishakhapatnam.
England came to these shores with a pack of exciting, albeit raw, spinners in Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, with the experienced Jack Leach spearheading them and former skipper Joe Root equipped to lend good support.
However, the English spin attack, though billed as promising and exciting, wasn't seen as posing much of a threat to the Indian batters who honed their skills on slow and turning wickets back home.
Stats and figures, too, underlined the superiority of the Indian spinners when compared to their English counterparts.
However, two Tests and 8 fascinating days of red-ball cricket later, with the series level at 1-1, the story has been markedly different this time.
For the first time in years, the visiting spinners clearly outbowled their Indian counterparts.
England bowled five spinners, who claimed a combined tally of 33 wickets of the 40 to fall across the two Tests. Lanky left-armer Tom Hartley (14 wickets at an average of 24.57) tops the list of wicket-takers while young Rehan Ahmed (eight wickets at an average of 36.37), Root (five wickets at an average of 38.40), Bashir (four wickets in one match at an average of 49.00) and Leach (two wickets in a match at an average of 48.00) have bowled effectively, albeit with lesser returns, giving the hosts a taste of their own medicine.
India, on the other hand, bowled four spinners, including Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test, who combined to prise out 23 wickets, 10 fewer than England. Ashwin has taken nine wickets, significantly short of his lofty standards on familiar surfaces, at an average of 36.33. He still tops the spin bowling charts for India, with Jadeja (five wickets in one match at an average of 43.80), Axar (five wickets in two matches at an average of 41.20) and Kuldeep (four wickets in one match at an average of 32.75) faring far below expectations.
The combined bowling averages and economy rates also reflect that England spinners have done a much better job. The combined average of the English spinners is 33.90 against India's 38.39. The combined economy rate of England's spinners is 3.48, as compared to India's 4.18.
Hartley has been the find of the series for England with his metronomic lines and sharp turn. His economy of 3.57 is better than all the Indian spinners on show. His strike rate of 41.28 (41 balls per wicket) is much higher than any of the Indian spinners, with Ashwin and Jadeja faring poorly with strike rates of 53 and 62 per wicket respectively. Axar and Kuldeep have been much better either, with strike rates of 56 and 48.
Again, by the numbers, Rehan has done a better job than any other Indian spinner on show. A part-time spinner, Root had a better bowling average and economy rate than Axar and Jadeja at 38.40 and 3.00 respectively, while being on level terms with them in terms of wickets.
No Indian spinner has managed to take a four or five-wicket haul in an innings so far across two Tests, while Root has a four-wicket haul and Hartley has dazzled with four and seven-wicket hauls across these two matches.
Hartley's spell of 7/62 was instrumental in England recording a famous 28-run win in the tightly-fought Test.
Though two Tests aren't enough to assess the impact of the Indian spinners, it is safe to say that they have, so far, come up short when compared to their English counterparts.