NEW DELHI: England's debutant spinner Tom Hartley etched his name in the record books with a match-winning spell against India in the opening Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.
The left-arm spinner spun India's batters out, claiming an impressive 7/62 and concluding the Test with a total of 9/193.
Notably, the performance is now the best match figure for an England spinner on Test debut since 1945.
Hartley's nine-wicket haul in the first Test also matched the joint-most since former English spinner Robert Berry's 9/116 against West Indies in Manchester in 1950.
Additionally, he became the fourth England spinner to achieve a five-wicket haul on Test debut in this century, following in the footsteps of Adil Rashid (5/64 in Abu Dhabi, 2015), Will Jacks (6/161 in Rawalpindi, 2022), and Rehan Ahmed (5/48 in the same series).
Hartley's remarkable debut performance underlined his impact and added a new chapter to England's spin-bowling legacy in Test cricket.
The first Test against India witnessed England spinners scalping 20 wickets as pacers ended up without a single wicket. This is not the first time England managed to do so in Test format.
The first time England spinners scalped all 20 wickets was against India in Kanpur in 1952. Four years later, they managed to achieve the feat again but this time it was against their arch-rival Australia in Manchester in 1956. The third time before 2024, when English spinners took 20 wickets in a Test was against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2018.
In the Day 4 action of the first Test, Ollie Pope's aggressive innings set a challenging target of 231 for India. Despite a resilient effort from the lower order, particularly Ravichandran Ashwin and KS Bharat, they succumbed to the spin of debutant Tom Hartley, leading to a 28-run defeat for India.
The dominance of England's spinners in this historic Test showcased their effectiveness on the sub-continent.
(With ANI inputs)
