'It was probably a better ball than Shane Warne' - Monty Panesar recalls his magical delivery to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar in 2012

Former England Turbanator Monty Panesar was one of the finest left-arm spinners during his time. Duncan Fletcher, the former coach, once described Panesar as the world’s best finger spinner. He troubled almost every great batsman when he was at the peak of his career.

In 2012, England registered their first series victory against India in India since 1984. Panesar was one of the architects of that series victory. After losing the first Test, the English team bounced back strongly to beat India by 10 wickets in the second Test of the series. Monty in that Test grabbed 11 wickets by ripping apart the Indian batting order completely in that game.

Monty Panesar cherishes his dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar

The spinner while going through the memories of the second Test of the 2012 series cherished the moment when he took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, “When I bowled that ball to Tendulkar, I could remember the training I did. When I bowled 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,” Panesar said during his interaction with ESPNCricinfo.

He believed that the little master had no clue of the delivery he bowled to him at that moment.

“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,” he added.

The English spinner bowled exceptionally well in that series. He along with Graeme Swann troubled the Indian batsmen frequently. Alastair Cook, who was leading the England side back then, was adjudged the player of the series for his excellent performances with the bat in the whole series.

Monty’s last international series was against Australia in the 2013–14 Ashes though he has not announced his retirement yet.