Cricket: Panesar Dreaming of More Tendulkar Moments

England hardly need reminding that the Test series against India will pose far greater problems than the recent 3-0 win over West Indies, but Monty Panesar underlined the point yesterday when he admitted he was about to embark on the toughest challenge of his career.

Panesar, who tied every West Indies batsman bar Shivnarine Chanderpaul in knots to take 23 wickets at 18 apiece, has been playing for England for less than a year and a half but he has already faced some of slow bowling's most exacting examinations, with trips to India and Australia sandwiching home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Now, against a team he calls the "world's best players of spin", he feels life is about to get even more testing.

"From a spinner's point of view it will be tough," he said at his home club, Luton Town & Indians. "You go to India, where the ball turns, and it's tough. Play them in England, where the ball doesn't turn as much, and it's going to be even tougher. Put it this way: I hope the sun shines."

England's chances of beating a side who, for all their notorious travel-sickness, still boast one of the most glittering middle orders in the business may depend on how well Panesar holds his nerve. He remains something of a star-struck adolescent, who was so excited to have claimed his hero Sachin Tendulkar as a maiden Test wicket in Nagpur in March 2006 that he keeps the ball - signed by Tendulkar with the words "once in a blue moon, never again" - in his bedroom at home.

But the top-class start to his Test career, which has brought 65 wickets at 28 in 17 matches, including six hauls of five or more, and rocketed him up to joint sixth in the world rankings, has not impinged on his diligent and inquisitive nature.

"As a spinner I feel like I'm still a baby," said the 25-year-old, who was promoting the Big Ticket Offer, an initiative to encourage fans to switch their gas and electricity supply to Npower. "Playing India is exciting, but it's also frightening. They tend to play spin on the height of the ball and they're very quick at judging length on trajectory, very quick to move on to the back foot, and very wristy and nimble. It's a real test to see whether you can apply pressure."

The good news for England is that Panesar has developed the priceless knack of dismissing quality players. More than two-thirds of his Test victims are recognized batsmen, and the vigour with which he celebrated Tendulkar's wicket set a template. "When you play against such great players, that's the impact they have on you," he said. "The energy comes out and you're just flying."

But if the Tendulkar moment has gathered the most interest in Panesar's memory bank, the Indians are more likely to recall the wicket of Mohammad Kaif, the other victim in his debut-innings figures of 42-19-73-2. With the last ball of the third day in Nagpur, Panesar got one to grip and turn from round the wicket and fizz outside Kaif's forward defensive on to the stumps. "You dream of those kinds of deliveries as a left-arm spinner," he said.