Coach Duncan Fletcher says Monty Panesar is the world’s best finger spinner after his display in England’s win over Pakistan in the third Test.
Panesar took 3-39, including a stunning delivery to bowl out Younis Khan, to end with six wickets in the match after his 8-93 in the win at Old Trafford.
"As a finger spinner there is probably no-one to match him in world cricket at the moment - his control is very good.
“This was a different pitch to Old Trafford, a lot slower,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher was measured in his praise of Northamptonshire left-armer Panesar, 24, after the win in Manchester last week.
But after seeing him outfox the likes of Younis and Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq in Leeds, has all but confirmed his place in the squad to tour Australia this winter.
“There was always a very good chance that he would be included. Now he is staking a stronger and stronger claim,” the coach added.
Panesar has 31 Test victims to his name from nine matches and been a key factor in England securing an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series against Pakistan.
That has also impressed Derek Underwood, England’s most successful spin bowler ever with 297 wickets from 86 Tests.
“He’s bowled really well and it’s been fantastic to watch,” Underwood told BBC Sport.
"All you can ask of a spinner is if the ball turns he bowls sides out and Monty has proven to everybody he can do it.
“He’s kept the ball up to the bat and not got cut too much, which is always an indication that somebody’s bowling well.”
Another success story for England at Headingley was Lancashire paceman Sajid Mahmood, who bounced back from a series of poor performances to take 4-22 in the second innings.
Fletcher has earmarked him to fill the role played by Simon Jones in last summer’s win over Australia if the Glamorgan man fails to recover from injury in time for the return series.
“I’ve seen some real potential in him, especially considering who he is replacing in Simon and what we need as a priority in Australia to bowl them out two times,” Fletcher explained.
"The first thing that impressed me was his pace. What also impresses me a lot about him as a quick bowler is that he tried things and if they didn’t come off he was happy to try it again. "He is also quite a calm individual but the key thing is speed, I have always believed you have to have someone who can bowl at 90 miles per hour. “Saj still has a lot to learn but if he bowls consistently he can be pretty effective.”
Monty is neither over-rated nor under-rated. Monty is just......well, Monty. Some might suggest that he has an unusual way of celebrating after scalping a wicket to his name, and I agree to an extent, but he is one of a kind that we have came across in recent times. One has to admit, he has accomplished very well against India, was quite effective in the home series against Sri Lanka and albeit not many wickets to his name, he has now outperformed himself against Pakistan as well. I suspect he will more or less further improve his ratings this winter against the world's giants, if anything.
And if we are anywhere near the category of best finger-spin artists, let it be known the name of one of the all-time greats in the shape of Daniel Vetorri. He can turn the ball on a solid bedrock, if needed be.
One of the positive things that I like in Monty is that he keeps the opposition's run-rate in check. Starting with his average of ~30 with only 31 wickets to his name in a matter of three series over the period of five months is quite an achievement in itself. The expectation here is not that he is the kind that would run through batting line-ups all of a sudden. Improvement comes with time, and he has proved to be a cost-effective yet an efficient entity in the team. An earlier set of news which made rounds in the media relates to him and the manner in which he played in his high school; he was either used as an opener or in a one-down position, and given the current circumstances, I would not hesitate to move him a bit up the order, above Mahmood, Hoggard and Harmison and see how he fares in that range. Improvement in his batting will further increase his chances in getting selected for future squads.
I may have said that about Sreesanth or Agarkar but not Shoaib naaahhh ..he is not a spinner he is a medium pacer. You guys have yet to see a genuine fast bolwer bowling (i.e. me)
I am so fast that i reach to batsmen (in my follow up) before the ball
Come on, the way Pakistan were playing, if Pieterson were bowling instead of Monty he would have had the same amount of wickets. Since when did the mighty Pakistan batsmen only fall to the best in the world?
^^ Quite agreed.
I've noticed that a lot of times, PK batsmen get out because of playing the wrong shots.
This series, they were just terrible overall. forget Monty, anyone could get that many wickets.
