This may be a sign that India are trusting the quality of their spin bowling to draw more out of a pitch that may not be as responsive as some of those in the past; that their experience will help them get one over on an opposition that will be fronting up with a debutant in Shoaib Bashir, who has ten first-class wickets to his name, to go with Hartley and Rehan Ahmed, who are on their first tour of India. Jack Leach, England's most experienced spinner, is out with a knee injury.