“ I can't see these three spinners outbowling Indian spinners” – Kevin Pietersen says England's spin trio no match to India spinners

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen didn’t seem convinced by the three visiting spinners following their poor outing against India on Day 1 of the Hyderabad Test on Thursday.

Pietersen pointed out that the England spin trio of Jack Leach, Tom Hartley, and Rehan Ahmed failed to get the purchase from the pitch compared to their Indian counterparts – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.

The 43-year-old pointed out how Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann had outbowled Harbhajan Singh, Ashwin, and Pragyan Ojha when the visitors won their last Test series in India (2-1) in 2012-13.

Pietersen told Sports 18:

"My big concern is England's spinners. I said it before the series. When we won here in 2012, we had Swann and Panesar, who outbowled Ashwin, Harbhajan and Pragyan Ojha."

"Unfortunately, from what I have seen here today, I can't see these three spinners outbowling Indian spinners. I just didn't see the ball spin enough. A couple of balls, they got to spin," he added.

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“They weren't allowed to spin it because Yashasvi Jaiswal was hitting it” – Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen further defended the spin trio, saying that Yashasvi Jaiswal went all guns blazing, exposing inexperienced Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed to put the visitors on the back foot. He said:

“England spinners just never got the border spin. Yes, they weren't allowed to spin it because Yashasvi Jaiswal was hitting it. But also you only need one ball to spin or two balls to spin. They just couldn't get into spin.

Pietersen added:

"You contrast that with India. First of all, we thought, Oh, here we go. Next ball. Then we get the ball to bounce. Then we get the ball to spin. Then another one bounces. We just didn't see that with the England spinners.”

Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 76 runs off 70 balls, including three sixes and nine boundaries as Team India finished 119/1 at stumps on Day 1. He will resume the innings alongside Shubman Gill (14 off 43) on Day 2.

India captain Rohit Sharma departed for 24 off 27 deliveries by holing out to England captain Ben Stokes at mid-on. The hosts are trailing by 127 runs with nine wickets in hand.

Batting first, England were bundled out for 246 in 64.3 overs. Captain Ben Stokes led from the front, scoring 70 off 88 balls, hitting three maximums and six boundaries. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett also chipped in with handy contributions, while Joe Root and Zak Crawley contributed with 20s.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bagged three wickets apiece for India, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah settled for two each.

Follow the IND vs ENG 1st Test live scores and updates here.