England spinners are not on top of their game: Eddie Hemmings

Former England off-spinner Eddie Hemmings

England have arrived in India, aiming to do an encore of 2012-13. During that historic 2-1 series win, spinners Graeme Swann (20 wickets) and Monty Panesar (17) had the Indian batters caught in a web.

This time, Joe Root's team will heavily depend on the likes of Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Dom Bess if they are to shock Virat Kohli's India, who are on a high after their historic victory in Australia. While Moeen, a veteran of 60 Tests, is yet to play a game since the opening Ashes Test of 2019, Leach (left-arm orthodox) and Bess (offie) are consistently improving as they emerged the highest wicket-takers with 10 and 12 wickets respectively in England's recent Test series triumph in Sri Lanka.

No comparison here

However, former England off-spinner Eddie Hemmings, 71, does not believe the English spin troika are any match to Indian spinners R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel.

"I don't think they [England spinners] are on top of their game, but they are improving all the time. They have a good spin coach in [Jeetan] Patel, the New Zealander. I think as long as he stays with them, they are going to improve," Nottingham-based Hemmings told mid-day on Tuesday.

Hemmings has high expectations from Moeen, who claimed 10 wickets in four Tests during England's last tour in 2016-17.

Banking on Moeen

"With Moeen, he thrives with confidence, like most cricketers. And if his confidence is good, he can come good because he is a good all-round cricketer. But other than that, he hasn't played much [of Test cricket in recent times]. He has played a lot of one-day stuff. He is a fine all-round cricketer. I am hoping he finds his confidence and gets stuck in," said Hemmings, who claimed 43 wickets in 16 Tests and 37 victims in 33 ODIs.

Hemmings felt drawing the series should be England's realistic target. "I think it could be closer than the last few series if England bat well. We can think of drawing the series if that [England bat well] happens. I don't think England are going to win the series. That's not gonna happen. India are a brilliant team and they have shown that again [with the win in Australia]. They are a very, very good team. When you get all the players coming together, that is what you want. Unfortunately, for England, you get two or three coming together and the others fall away. India tend to play better as a team," he concluded.