 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Panesar delighted to 'get Prince of India Tendulkar out'
It was the perfect stage for batting ace Sachin Tendulkar to delight his home crowd with an entertaining innings in what could be his last Test match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
India had lost a couple of early wickets on Day 1 of the second Test, and Tendulkar walked out to a huge cheer from the crowd and hit a cracking boundary early in innings.
Monty Panesar, however, ruined the script, bowling the master batsman, after he had scored just eight runs, with a superb delivery that spun right across the master batsman.
The crowd was stunned into silence as Panesar set off on a celebratory run and was hugged by his England team-mates.
Panesar said that wicket, of the four he picked on the first day, gave immense delight.
"Obviously, getting the Prince of India Sachin Tendulkar out... I was obviously delighted with that," the tweaker said, after the day's play.
'I've been trying to work a lot with Mushybhai'
On a wicket that offered a lot of turn and bounce to the spinners, Panesar literally made the ball talk at times. He stuck to a good length and was immaculate with his control, forcing the batsmen to commit mistakes, as was the case with his dismissals of Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
His figures of four for 91 in 34 overs helped England take control for most part of the opening day before Cheteshwar Pujara (114) and R Ashwin came up with a late rescue act.
Panesar credited England's spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed for his success.
"I've been trying to work a lot with Mushybhai in trying to get my action right. I felt the previous ball I got my action wrong and dropped my arm a bit. The next ball I said to myself let me get all the processes I worked with Mushybhai and I got my action right. I got my fingers nicely around the ball. These kinds of things work and it came out nicely," he said.
Mushybhai helps me and Swann
The former Pakistan spinner is working as the spin bowling coach for the England team since 2008 and under his guidance Graeme Swann has emerged as one of the leading spinners in the world.
"Mushybhai has been very valuable for us. He has played a lot of cricket in the subcontinent and understands the rhythm of the game out here.
"He helps me and Swann in how to understand the type of cricket that Indians play out here and adjust to that and the heat and the conditions and the noise of the crowd. All of that comes into play when you're the spin bowler.
"Obviously, you have to adjust to the flamboyant shots they play and just got to accept it and keep bowling the next ball," he said.
Looking to restrict India to under 300
The left-arm spinner revealed that England are looking to bowl out the Indians for under 300 after they finished the day on 266 for six.
"They obviously built a really good partnership between Ashwin and Pujara. If we restrict them to under 300 tomorrow morning then that will be good for us. It's that kind of partnership which has taken a bit of momentum into the Indian innings. I don't think they expected us to really dominate the first two sessions like that," he added.
Panesar came into the attack early when he was called to bowl the seventh over of the innings. He bowled a long first spell of 23 overs, during which he took three for 62 on either side of the lunch break to put his team on top early on.
"I have got various responsibilities both with the new ball and old. Sometimes I need to do the holding role and then an attacking role. I do both to the best that I can and try my best for the team out there," said the spinner.
Experience of bowling with the new ball
Panesar was also called up to bowl with the second new ball, which England took after 80 overs. He said that it was a role he was prepared for considering how much an impact spinners can make on the turning wickets in India.
"I had the experience of bowling with the new ball in Dubai against Pakistan. There was an option where the captain would be able to use me with the new ball.
"I was prepared for that and it's something that I enjoy. It's a new thing for me but I do enjoy bowling with the new ball."