India V England: 2nd Test – Indian bowlers to watch out for
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 on Friday, November 23, 2012.
England batsmen have notoriously struggled against spin in the sub-continental conditions, and aiming for a 4-0 whitewash against the Poms, Dhoni would look to exploit their weakness against the slow bowlers.
Indian spinners did a great job at Ahmedabad, restricting the English batting line-up to just 191 in their first innings in the series opener, which the hosts won by nine wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Wankhede wicket traditionally favours spinners, so the spin duo of Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin is once again expected to run riot against the England batsmen. Zaheer Khan’s ability to swing the ball both ways at a decent pace will also be crucial.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PP-Ojha-c2198:
The left-arm spinner, who rose nine places on the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 bowling rankings post the Ahmedabad Test, has become MS Dhoni’s most effective weapon on Indian soil of late. With 84 scalps from just 17 Test appearances, 44 of them coming in 2012, Ojha has been a valuable contributor.
His role in the side is to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adrian-Roger-Kirshaw-Pierson-c42135 to the basics, maintain a particular line and length and curb the scoring rate. He was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the first Test returning with career best figures of 9 for 165, including a first-innings five-wicket haul that helped the home side bundle out the tourists for just 191.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228:
The 26-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s spin bowling with Ojha in the years to come. He has a lot of variations under his belt and has the ability to trouble any top batsman in the world.
Ashwin made his Test debut in November last year and has been a permanent member of Indian spin attack since then. He has so far played nine Tests picking up 53 wickets at an average of 28.22.
The Chennai bowler, who is yet to unravel his “mystery delivery”, failed to impress much in the first Test. He looked particularly ordinary against the left-handed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 in the second innings, conceding 111 runs in 43 overs while picking up only one wicket.
However, keeping in mind his impressive run over the last twelve months, one can expect him to lead the Indian attack from the front in the remainder of the series, and particularly in Mumbai.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Z-Khan-c98379:
Zaheer Khan, the spearhead of Indian pace attack, has been struggling for form over the last one year. However, he seemed to have regained the lost form in the previous game claiming figures of 3 for 82 in 42.3 overs.
What makes him a difficult bowler to play is his knack to swing the ball both ways at will, and that too at a decent pace. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 fast bowlers as he can swing the new ball and has the ability to generate reverse swing from an old ball with great control.
The left-arm medium pacer made his Test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in November 2000 and has since played 86 matches for India picking up 294 scalps, including ten five-wicket and one ten-wicket haul as well.
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