'It was very clever': Swann lauds Kohli's field placements to spin bowling
Local boy Axar Patel picked up 6 wickets in the first innings while Ashwin took 3 wickets to move withing 3 wickets of becoming the fourth Indian bowler ever to take 400 Test wickets.
It is always a pleasure for a former spin bowler to look at other spinners do well, even if they are from the opposition team. England spin great Graeme Swann, who is part of the commentary panel for the ongoing Test series between India and England was all praise for Indian spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, after the two men spun the visitors out for 112 in the first innings of the third Test match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
England's dismal performance with the bat came after their captain Joe Root chose to bat first on winning the toss and completely misread the conditions, going into the match with just one spinner.
Swann, who lauded the India spinners, was equally appreciative of captain Virat Kohli's field setting when the tweakers were bowling. He said the field placements around the bat and in the deep were very clever and that's what didn't allow England to get any runs whatsoever.
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"Virat Kohli set very good fields. They had men in the outfield and also put a lot of pressure around the bat. They had deep men posted as well to tell to England 'if you are going to tee off, you will get caught in the deep'.
"It was very clever. It just stymied that run rate. England were going nowhere," Swann opined while speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports in the show Cricket Live at the end of play on day 1.
Local boy Axar Patel picked up 6 wickets in the first innings while Ashwin took 3 wickets to move withing 3 wickets of becoming the fourth Indian bowler ever to take 400 Test wickets.
