Andy Flower Bans Monty Panesar from Bowling to Sachin Tendulkar

A side track issue has now effectively been derailed as the England coach has banned the England spinner from indulging the Indian batsman in the nets.

Monty Panesar, Shane Warne

Ahead of the first Test of the India England series at Lord’s was the news of Sachin Tendulkar preparing early to acclimatize himself to conditions in England. Seen with his family, including his son Arjun Tendulkar, who has been in the spotlight for working on his cricket skills alongside his father in England, Tendulkar appeared to be preparing hard to make up for the time he took away from India’s tour of the West Indies to be with his family.

With Tendulkar on the brink of the milestone of his 100th international century and India looking to defend their no.1 Test ranking against the soaring high England team, it appeared the batting maestro was doing his utmost to make sure he gave his team the best chance possible. However, while a viral fever saw an under par Sachin Tendulkar bat in both innings of the Lord’s Test, although lower in the batting line up in the match that India lost eventually to give England a 1-0 lead, the focus has barely shifted from Sachin Tendulkar not only because of his impending 100th 100 milestone but also, because the England coach, Andy Flower, and the England captain, Andrew Strauss, have both been stunned by the news that Sachin Tendulkar was working in the nets with Monty Panesar.

Panesar was not picked for the first Test and it is unlikely that Graeme Swann will be moving away from the spinner’s role anytime soon in the England team to let Panesar in. Panesar himself has faded since his sensational Ashes debut and was even seen taking advice from Shane Warne, the legendary Australian leg spin during the recent Ashes tour. It seemed Panesar was merely using the opportunity to have the proximity to pick brains from the highest run getter in cricket history.

Panesar claimed he was doing nothing more than picking advice from the batting maestro, an opportunity accorded to him without anyone’s permission but that he was the one who would have benefitted, if any one, from the experience of bowling to Sachin Tendulkar at Lord’s. Panesar, it has to be said, is in a different mould as a bower and also, it is highly unlikely that England dressing room secrets would have been on Tendulkar’s agenda as a result of this rendezvous. That would seem even more ridiculous since the IPL has now provided the platform sufficiently for players to enjoy knowledge sharing without quite fearing the repercussions. In that light and given Tendulkar’s stature, it seems far removed that Panesar’s only job was to help Tendulkar in any way to counter England’s bowling.

However, Strauss and Flower were visibly not pleased with the information as a result of which Flower has now banned Panesar from indulging in any such activity with Tendulkar for the rest of the series. While England are keen to keep their cards close to their chest, it would appear that unless Panesar stood any chance of being picked in the series, it is he who has to lose form learning from the opportunity to bowl to one of the game’s leading greats.