Cricket.com.au | Are spinners really the best option to have in India?

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Australia will arrive in India on Monday with five spin bowlers in their 16-man squad, but history indicates their quicks are going to be crucial if the tourists are to somehow take down the world's No.1 Test team on their own soil. The magnitude of the task facing Australia in their upcoming four-Test series was only enhanced by India's recent 3-0 and 4-0 series drubbings of New Zealand and England respectively, stretching their unbeaten run in home Tests to an extraordinary 19 matches.

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While India's spinners have been the driving force behind their remarkable winning streak, history shows that the majority of foreign bowlers to have been successful there have been fast men. The 12 leading wicket-takers from visiting teams since 1980 may be an equal split of six pacemen and six spinners, but the quicks have been statistically far more effective than their slow-bowling counterparts.

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The performances of Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq (24 wickets at 20.95 in 1999) and Englishman Graeme Swann (28 at 28.96 between 2008 and 2012) are even more impressive compared to their spin-bowling contemporaries, some of the greatest slow bowlers to have played the game. Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralidaran (40 wickets at 45), Australia's Shane Warne (34 at 43), Pakistan's Danish Kaneria (31 at 39), New Zealand's Daniel Vettori (31 at 44) and England's Monty Panesar (28 at 38) are the five most prolific foreign spinners in India since 1980. They had success, but their wickets came at a strike rate far higher than their fast-bowling teammates.

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