5 oversees spinners who exploited Indian conditions

Indian pitches have been a paradise for slow bowlers and were particularly designed so when non-sub-continent teams toured India. Until the dawn of the new millennium, pitches were loaded heavily in favour of spinners and often, the job of the pacers was just to get the shine off the ball. However, the ploy has backfired at times and visiting spinners have found the conditions favourable and exploited it well. We had many surprise names for certain series but to take consistency into account, we’re discussing bowlers with at least 20 wickets and an average below 30 in India. Amusingly, even though a known fact, two of the spin maestros of our times, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t make it to the list. 1. Richie Benaud June 1961: Richie Benaud of Australia is watched very carefully by the umpire as he bowls on the first day of the first England v Australia test match at Edgbaston. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images) Richie Benaud, the Aussie legendary leg-spinner was a maverick of the game. He played most of his cricket in unhelpful conditions for a spinner, but boy, when he found assistance from the pitch, he did make it count. Benaud played a total of 8 matches in India and had an average of 18.38 while picking 52 Indian wickets. He was particularly severe on the Indian batsmen the first time he toured India when he picked up 23 wickets at the rate of 16 runs in 3 wickets. He even picked his best Test figures in the series in 1956-57. A sharp cricketing mind, the Aussie found the Indian conditions to his liking. Also read- Top 10 wicket-takers in T20 international cricket 2. Lance Gibbs Lance Gibbs bowling, Australia v West Indies, 3rd Test, Melbourne, Dec 1975-76. (Photo by Patrick Eagar/Patrick Eagar Collection via Getty Images) The West Indies were feared for their pace battery in their heydays. The Carribean with long fingers made merry on Indian pitches. He played 9 matches in India to pick up 39 wickets at the cost of 23 runs. Lance was the first spinner in Test history to cross the 300-wicket mark and was remarkably accurate with his off-cutters. With terrifying pace always operating from the other end, Gibbs had his work cut out and picked wickets aplenty from the other end. 3. Saqlain Mushtaq (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) The Indian fans will never forgive Saqlain for what he did to India in the famous Madras Test of 1999. Saqlain revolutionised off-spin bowling with his doosra and the teesra and was destined for legendary status. However, his inconsistency cost him his spot in the squad. Pakistan was touring India after a decade in 1999. This was Saqlain’s only Test matches in India and he played 3 of them and consistently posed threat to the Indian batsmen in their own backyard. He picked up 24 wickets in those 3 games at the cost of a shade below 21 and an economy rate of 2.7. It’s the game’s loss that the Indians couldn’t host the maestro for more matches. 4. Graeme Swann Graeme Swann of England. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) The English spinner played 6 matches in India and proved to be quite a handful for the Indian batsmen on the two occasions he toured the country. He formed a deadly pair with Monty Panesar in the 2012 and was pivotal in England winning the series. The duo picked up 19 of the 20 Indian wickets in Mumbai. Swann took 28 wickets at the cost of 28.96 a piece. He was quite economical with his accuracy and gave away 2.83 an over and without a doubt the best English off-spinner. However, Swann was forced into premature retirement after longstanding elbow problems. 5. Ashley Mallet Ashley Mallet. (Photo Source: Twitter) The Australian off-spinner toured India only once but went back with a bagful of wickets. The gangling brown haired player has the best figures for a finger spinner in Australia, 8 for 59 against Pakistan. Mallet played 5 Test matches in India and was very incisive in helpful conditions. He picked up 28 wickets at 19.10 apiece and was quite stingy in leaking runs. He had an impressive economy rate of 1.79. Mallet was a journalist by trade and didn’t play long enough in the Australian team, which generally picked only one spinner in Benaud, as fans would have loved. Also read- 8 Greatest leg spinners of all time There are plenty of other notable one-off performers like Jason Krejza, who recently picked up 12 wickets in his only Test in India. Monty Panesar, Danish Kaneria et al posed threats to Indians, but didn’t quite make it to the list with the statistic cut-off we considered along with Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Dan Vettori, among others. Amongst the current crop, we might see Imran Tahir, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid qualify, if they manage to be consistent on Indian tours in coming years.

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5 oversees spinners who exploited Indian conditions

4. Graeme Swann

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