CHENNAI: Former India left-arm spinner and former national selector Venkatapathy believes that debutant Tom Hartley, who took seven wickets against India in Hyderabad, adapted beautifully in the second innings after reading the surface better.
“Left-arm spinners are unique. The variations, the arc, the angles and their ability to turn the ball away from the batters makes them unique,” Raju told this daily. “Hartley was absolutely brilliant in the second innings. In the first innings against India, he conceded more than 100 runs for his two wickets.
He learnt from the mistakes, adjusted his bowling in the second innings and was rewarded. Since it was his debut he took a while to learn about the wicket. Once he got to do that he was a lot quicker in the second innings, brought about subtle variations and worked on his angles,” pointed out Raju.
The former India spinner attributed Hartley’s success to his positive mindset and specific plans for each batter. “The beauty is that Hartley with a positive mindset went for wickets and he was successful. He had specific plans on how to bowl to each and every India batter. The way he foxed Siraj by spinning the ball away from the right-hander when India were within an arm’s distance of a victory, showed his presence of mind and confidence,” opined Raju.
With Kohli unavailable and KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja injured, India are short on experience for the second Test. “It is unfortunate. This gives an opportunity for the rest to prove a point. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan have been included. The final XI is the prerogative of the team management. Having said that, Sarfaraz has scored heavily in domestic cricket. It is up to them (team think tank) to see the wicket and conditions and pick the best XI,” insisted the former Hyderabad captain.
At Visakhapatnam, England will once again expect Hartley to do an encore, as most of the wickets on this tour are expected to be spinner friendly.