Graeme Swann, the former England off-spinner, has come out and expressed that India would do well to keep their wrist-spin arsenal interested across all formats as they approach a full tour of England this summer and that if picked the likes of Kuldeep Yadav can make a massive impact on the fortune of their country on the tough tour.
Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't play a Test match in South Africa, and Yuzvendra Chahal were absolutely magnificent on India's tour of the rainbow nation in the limited overs leg there. They picked 33 wickets between them and paved the way for India's first ever bilateral ODI series win in the country.
Swann was recently quoted saying to the reporters that, "Wrist spinners can do well in England. Yasir Shah did well for Pakistan last year. So, the English players don't tend to bowl wrist spin or pick it very well. If they're fit and they're picked and bowled, they could do very well,"
"The trick is that in England you've to get people on the front foot, because the wicket's slightly slow, so as soon as you're slightly short, you get murdered around the ground. Why Yasir did really well for Pakistan is that he bowled quick leg spin..didn't allow batsmen to go on the backfoot. So, if they heed the advice of Shah, they could have a very good time,"
Swann believes spin in the latter half of the English summer can play a huge role for India, especially as they approach the transitioning England team. He said, "But India's batting is a lot better. The last time around, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad just threw India away and Moeen Ali bowled really well. This time around, they've got Broad and Anderson who're still brilliant, still world class, but the back-up.... Moeen Ali is not even in the team against Pakistan. So, there's a big gap in the spinners department,"
"It's good Virat's been given a chance to go play for Surrey. He'll enjoy Surrey trust me. The wickets at the Oval are unbelievable to bat on. He will have a good tour. Unless he plays against Jimmy (James Anderson) or Broady (Stuart Broad) in county games, I don't think it'll help because they're so much better than the county bowlers. But I think it's good. I think it's good that English cricket allowed foreign players to come over and train before,"
