Veteran Graeme Swann has named Tom Hartley as a promising talent to watch out for the upcoming India vs England Test series. Speaking about Hartley, Graeme Swann said that the youngster bowls like the Indian left-arm spinner Axar Patel who is known for his accuracy and control.
“When I saw Tom Hartley in Sri Lanka last winter, he’d barely played any red-ball cricket, but he’s got control and sometimes in India you don’t have to be the biggest turner of the ball. You have to be an Axar Patel-type bowler, able to run up, be metronomic, put it on the spot, get a little bit of rotation on the ball, and let the pitch do the work. Let’s not beat about the bush, we’re going to play on some absolute square turners out there after what happened last time,” Swann was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.
Tom Hartley, 24, made his England one-day international debut against Ireland in September last year. The left-arm spinner has played two ODIs but has not got any wickets to show. However, he has picked up 40 first-class wickets in 20 games for Lancashire.
Speaking more the visitor’s camp, England have plenty of variety in their spin department with the presence of four spinners. Jack Leach’s left-arm orthodox, Rehan Ahmed (returning to the team) offers the wrist spin option while Shoaib Bashir bowls right arm offspin.