'Sachin's balance was perfect but he completely misjudged the length': Monty Panesar recalls magical delivery that dismissed the Master Blaster in 2012

Former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has recalled the magical delivery that he bowled to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar during the first innings of the second Test between India and England in 2012.

India were leading the 4-match Test series 1-0 going into the second Test at Mumbai. England decided to go with a second spinner in the form of Monty Panesar and the strategy worked as he turned the series on its head.

Monty Panesar ran through the Indian batting order

The pitch for the second Test was an absolute turner, and Monty Panesar took full advantage of it, picking up the wickets of Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. However, it was the wicket of the Little Master that gave him the most satisfaction.

Monty Panesar flighted the ball a bit and pitched it outside leg stump at pace. Sachin Tendulkar thought that the ball would go on with the angle due to its pace. However, the ball pitched and turned square to hit the top of his off-stump.

It was a delivery that any left-arm spinner dreams of, and Monty Panesar believes that it was probably a better ball than the delivery that Shane Warne bowled to get Mike Gatting out in the Ashes.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Monty Panesar said:

"When I bowled that ball to [Sachin] Tendulkar, I could remember the training I did. When I bowled [in the Tests] I was like, gosh, I feel so fit, I feel strong, my action feels great, I felt like I could really flight the ball and spin it. I remember saying to myself, right, I want to hit the top of off stump. That was it.”

He added:

“You look at that delivery. His balance was perfect, but he completely misjudged the length, the curve on the ball, and he honestly thought it was just a ball that is going to skid on, with the pace that I bowled, towards leg stump. But it didn’t.”It was a great ball. It was something that I would say was probably a better ball than Shane Warne [to Mike Gatting].”

Monty Panesar troubled the Indian batsmen with his spin bowling throughout that Test series as England turned things around to win the Test series 2-1.