England’s debutant spinner Tom Hartley toppled a couple of records during his match-winning spell against India in the opening Test on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The left-arm spinner spun India’s batters out and registered a figure of 7/62, and ended the Test with 9/193 which is the best figure for an England spinner on Test debut since 1945.
His nine wickets tally in the first Test in a match is the joint-most since former English spinner Robert Berry’s 9/116 against West Indies in Manchester in 1950.
Hartley also became just the fourth England spinner to claim a five-wicket haul on Test debut in this century.
Adil Rashid with 5/64 became the first English spinner to achieve the feat against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2015. Will Jacks was the second player to enter the list with 6/161 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022. In the same series, with 5/48 Rehan Ahmed became the third player to enter the list.
