Monty Panesar has again drawn the attention of selectors towards himself by putting up a majestic performance for Sussex against Somerset in a Divison 1 match at Taunton. Panesar took a total of 13 wickets in the match and provided his team a very good chance to win the match.
However, the weather didn’t let Sussex achieve the target of 164. When the score of Sussex was 115 for 5, it started drizzling and the umpires stopped the match. Later on, the day’s play was called off due to the extremely wet outfield and the match ended in a draw. But, Panesar has done his reputation no harm in this match.
It was a brilliant display of left arm orthodox spin bowling by Panesar. He gave the ball air and got a lot of purchase from the wicket. He also created troubles for the Somerset batsmen through his arm deliveries. None of the Somerset batsmen was able to play him with confidence. He took 7 wickets in the first innings and 6 wickets in the second innings.
The England selectors would announce the England test squad for the India tour pretty soon and there is every possibility that two spinners would be included in the squad. It would be very difficult for the England selectors to ignore this performance of Panesar. Also, Panesar has experience of playing in India before and his record is quite good over there. So, Panesar is pretty likely to get a place in the England squad for the test series against India.
On being asked whether he is confident of getting a place in the test side for the India tour, Panesar said that he can’t say anything about that. The selectors have to decide who would be the second spinner in the squad. But, if he gets a chance, he would give his best for the team.