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'Will pick him over Dom Bess as the off-spinner': Monty Panesar names the spinner India 'would not like to face'
The duo of Leach and Bess played in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka which England won 2-0. Moeen, who has represented England in 60 Tests, missed out after getting infected to the novel coronavirus ahead of the rubber.
Former England spinner Monty Panesar has picked Moeen Ali over Dom Bess to pair with Jack Leach in the upcoming first Test against India which begins from Friday in Chennai. The former cricketer stated that the management would be making a mistake if they don’t get Moeen in the playing XI.
The duo of Leach and Bess played in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka which England won 2-0. Moeen, who has represented England in 60 Tests, missed out after getting infected to the novel coronavirus ahead of the rubber.
In a conversation with news agency PTI, Panesar said that Moeen could pose some serious threat to team India as he is fresh to take the field.
“Jack Leach is likely to play since India have a lot of right-handers and I will pick Moeen Ali over Dom Bess as the off-spinner in the eleven as he has done well in India and has the required experience. He can also bat,” Panesar told PTI from the UK.
“Having not played in Sri Lanka, Ali is fresh and hungry. India would not like facing Ali, they would be happy facing Leach and Bess,” he added.
Ali has a six-wicket haul against India, his second-best figures which he claimed in 2014 at home. However, he hasn’t been a regular in the Test line-up off late. He played his last Test in the Ashes almost 18 months ago.
Panesar, who was wreaked havoc in India’s tour of 2012 along with Graeme Swann, said he would want to see England spinners consistently flight the ball and avoid bowling flatter lines.
“They should be aiming to bowl good length but how it is getting there also matters. Bowling too flat will make things easy for the batter, so I would flight the ball. The margin of error also increases if you flight the ball on a good length,” said Panesar, who picked up 17 wickets from three Tests in the 2012 tour of India.
“Give the ball some air and bring the batsman forward. You can bowl arm balls and cross seamers to mix things up but not too frequently especially when the ball is soft,” he added.
