Former India spinner Anil Kumble believes that England has kept a highly inexperienced bowling line-up against India in the ongoing India vs England 1st Test. Anil Kumble also added that Jack Leach has a lot of responsibility in the spin department.
Jack Leach is the only experienced spinner in England playing 11 for IND vs ENG 1st Test. Rehan Ahmed, the other spinner in the team, has only played 1st Test against Pakistan in which he got 7 wickets. Tom Hartley is another spinner in the playing 11 who makes his Test debut in India vs England 1st Test.
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It Will All Depend On How Jack Leach Leads Spin Attack: Anil Kumble
While speaking to PTI during a Jio Cinema event, former India captain Anil Kumble said England’s strength in bowling will depend on Jack Leach.
“It will all depend on how Jack Leach leads the spin attack. Three spinners, of course, the English management obviously have had a look at the pitch and they believe that it’s going to take turn,” Kumble said.
Kumble also added that England had a choice to go ahead with Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper and induct another pacer after Harry Brook’s ouster.
“In that sense, just with one fast bowler in that lineup, it’ll be interesting to see how they go about because I certainly thought that once Harry Brook was unavailable, they had the choice to go with Jonny Bairstow as the keeper and then bring in another fast bowler.
“They brought in Ben Foakes, which means that he will keep with just that one fast bowler,” said Anil Kumble, who holds record for most wickets for Team India.
Also Read: 4:1! Anil Kumble Predicts Result Of India vs England Test Series
England Has Highly Inexperienced Bowling Line-Up Against India
Former India coach Anil Kumble also noted that Ben Stokes might not bowl many overs in the match. Hence, according to Kumble, England has a highly inexperienced bowling line-up in 1st Test. He also feels that youngsters Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley will face a massive challenge against the Indian batting line-up.
“We don’t know how much of bowling Ben Stokes is going to do, it’ll be interesting to see how they go about but (it’s a) highly inexperienced bowling lineup. It’s going to be a massive challenge for those young spinners, especially Rehan and Hartley to build pressure on this wonderful Indian batting lineup,” concluded Kumble, who also led Team India in Tests.
Meanwhile, the India vs England 1st Test takes place at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first in the match. With 121 runs on the scoreboard, England lost 4 wickets. All the wickets were picked by Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (2), Ravindra Jadeja (1), and Axar Patel (1).
