India v/s England: India's tail wags gleefully

About an hour-and-a-half into India's training session on Tuesday afternoon, spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav stopped rolling their arms over at the nets. They weren't done for the day, though.

The trio walked back to the seating area adjacent to the nets, took a breather, and started padding up. Once India's top and middle order batsmen were done having their hit, the bowlers were back up. It was time to switch on again, this time with the bat in hand.

Ashwin was the first to get in, taking guard in the same net in which he bowled. Yadav was batting in the net next to him while Jadeja was taking throw-downs a bit far away on the other side of the pitch. All three of them showed their defensive skills to begin with before playing some beautifully lofted shots, the ball meeting the middle of their bats more often than not.

One could be forgiven to mistake the three for top-order batsmen. Make no mistake, that's how they've played throughout the Test series against England so far.

The three spinners, along with pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, have played crucial knocks at critical moments of each match, ensuring that India's lower-order batting has outshone and outthought the opposition's.

In the third Test in Mohali when the hosts were trying to overhaul England's first innings total of 283, India were in danger of falling short of it at 204/6. That's when the spin trio stepped up with half-centuries each, and India notched up 417. Even in the previous two Tests, India's lower order has chipped in with the important 30s and 40s that have frustrated England and taken the game away from them that much more.

"All the bowlers have practiced and contributed (with the bat)," India head coach Anil Kumble said here on Tuesday. "It is not just about one skill anymore. So, everyone needs to contribute with whatever they can. It certainly puts the opposition on the defensive when you know that all eleven can bat."

They certainly can for India. And Kumble credited Ashwin for taking up a leadership role in starting that trend in the team.

"Ashwin has led the way of trying to help the lower order realise their potential (with the bat). Obviously, Ashwin has shown what he is capable of, especially after he started batting at No. 6.

"I was really pleased for Jadeja as well because he is someone who is really capable of scoring those big runs, he has shown that in the domestic competition. So for him to get to that 90 for the first time (in Mohali), if you do that once, you have the confidence to go there and do it again. And if you look at Jayant, you don't realise that he is playing only his second Test match. It is really nice that all of the have contributed and so have the fast bowlers Shami, Umesh and even Bhuvi earlier on," Kumble added.

The leg-spinning legend, who himself has a Test century and five fifties to his credit with the bat, knows too well the importance of runs from the lower order.

"The contribution from every player in the batting line-up is extremely critical for the success of the team. If you want to be No. 1 (team in the world) and if you want to stay No. 1, it is important that every player in the playing eleven contributes. That keeps raising the benchmark," he said.

Kumble would hope for that benchmark to continue rising come the fourth Test here.

WHEN INDIA'S TAIL WAGGED

1st Test, 1st innings (Rajkot): 361/6 to 488 all out
2nd Test, 1st innings (Vizag): 363/7 to 455 all out
2nd Test, 2nd innings (Vizag): 151/7 to 204 all out
3rd Test, 1st innings (Mohali): 204/6 to 417 all out

India's bowlers with the bat this series

Player M Runs HS Avg 100/50
R Ashwin 3 239 72 47.80 0/3
R Jadeja 3 148 90 37.00 0/1
J Yadav 2 117 55 58.50 0/1
M Shami 3 35 19 35.00 0/0
U Yadav 3 30 13 7.50 0/0