England’s ‘Surprised’ that their greatest bowler, Nasser Hussain, wasn’t playing in Hyderabad for India against England

At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday, India’s batsmen formed strong partnerships and frustrated England’s attempts to score runs with the ball. England had to work hard throughout the day to find wickets.

With the exception of Ravichandran Ashwin, all of India’s batsmen were given starts as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja struck massive half-centuries to help the team extend its advantage in the first innings to 175 runs. By the conclusion of the second day, the team was at 421/7 in 110 overs.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain hypothesized that if James Anderson had been in their starting lineup, events could have gone differently.

“Ahead of the game, I said that I would have played Anderson. Hussain commented on Sky Sports, “I was a little taken aback by the side’s balance since (Joe) Root has four spinners and one seamer in India.

Anderson hands you the reins. It might even be (Ollie) Robinson, just another seaman; it doesn’t even have to be him,” he said.

Thus far in his time playing in India, Anderson has claimed 34 wickets at an average of 29.32 from 13 Test matches.

Hussain did, however, add that he can see why England started with three spinners.

“In the last several years, Anderson’s abilities on the subcontinent have been extraordinary. If Anderson is on the team, he can play the game really well. He is the best bowler England has ever had,” he said.

“I could see why they did what they did. Due to stress fractures, Jack Leach hasn’t bowled since May or June. In addition, there is a debutant and a player participating in their second Test match. It’s possible that they were worried about how much Leach might be bowled in that match. Thus, you find yourself in a difficult situation if you just go for the second spinner and they don’t get it properly,” he said.

In actuality, part-timer Joe Root was England’s most efficient bowler despite the presence of three professional spinners.

England bowling coach Jeetan Patel said, “The beauty of having Joe Root is that he knows…how to create opportunities.”

Joe has the capacity to consider “how will I take a wicket?” How can I alter a game? I believe that Joe Root—who generates opportunities—was what we witnessed today. Yes, Joe Root bowls in this manner, so he will have boundaries struck at him. He poses aggressive inquiries and bowls deliveries with aggression. I think he was terrific,” he said.