Even Shane Warne struggled bowling leg-spin in India, but Rehan Ahmed is delivering for England

India was the land that reduced even Shane Warne, the greatest leg-spinner of all time, to despair. “Tubs, we’re stuffed,” Warne told his captain Mark Taylor. Sachin Tendulkar had greeted him by hitting fours straight, over cover and then through midwicket in his first over at Chennai in 1998, en route to a match-winning 155 not out. In three Test tours here, Warne averaged 43.1.

Here, then, is a glimpse of the challenge that Rehan Ahmed faces as England’s leg-spinner in India. Only three men – Richie Benaud, twice, Adil Rashid and Danish Kaneria – have taken 15 wickets in a series in India while bowling leg-spin. All told, overseas leg-spinners here average 43.2.

Even Indian leg-spinners have been marginalised: “Lack of leg-spinners in India an alarming concern,” read the title of a recent piece from former leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. Subhash Gupte is the sole classical leg-spinner to have taken 100 Test wickets for India; Anil Kumble and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, bowling much faster, belong in a category of their own.

Indian pitches are often curiously unwelcome to leg-spin. Wickets like that in Hyderabad, in the first Test, reward the accuracy of finger spinners, more than the extra mystery of wrist spinners. The slowness of many pitches also damages leg-spinners, allowing batsmen both to meet the ball as it pitches or rock back and react to the spin; Kumble and Chandrasekhar adapted with extra pace.

After a modest 2-138 from 30 overs in Hyderabad, Ahmed’s retention in Vizag could partly be explained by England’s culture: the regime’s recognition that continuity of selection helps to play fearless cricket. It also indicated England’s belief in his talents; Ahmed’s ebullient batting gives him value to the side even when now bowling at his best. The wicket for the second Test, offering more bounce and less turn than last week, also makes wrist spin more valuable: India recalled their own wrist spinner, the left-armer Kuldeep Yadav.

For all the conjecture that Ahmed might eventually become a better batsman than bowler, he emphatically justified his selection in Vizag. When he ended India’s second innings by inducing Ravichandran Ashwin to poke to Ben Foakes, Ahmed had a match haul of 6-153 from 41.3 overs; Warne only took as many wickets once in nine Tests in India.

It was vindication for Ben Stokes’s sensitive deployment of Ahmed. Rather than be used in the traditional manner of English leg-spinners – as a partnership-breaker, hastily whisked out the attack after a couple of difficult overs – Stokes has ensured that Ahmed could bowl extensive spells. This has allowed him to settle into a rhythm and avoid the tendency for wrist spinners to show too many of their variations too soon, neglecting their stock ball.

First, Ahmed had to wait. On the opening day, Ahmed was not introduced until the 60th over. Yet he bowled almost constantly for the rest of the day. With in-out fields, some of Ahmed’s loose balls went for one, rather than a boundary; one of these fortuitously earned a wicket, when Srikar Bharat slapped a longhop to backward point. The following day, Ahmed showed the wrist spinner’s eternal value deceiving the tail when Jasprit Bumrah edged a leg-break to slip.

Yet in the second innings, with England facing a deficit of 143 runs, the rest of the attack tired after only being given two sessions off, and Joe Root nursing a thumb injury, Ahmed had to be used far more prominently. This time, rather than the 60th over, Ahmed came on in the fifth, at the end of the second day. Either side of lunch on the third day, he bowled an 11-over spell.

Ahmed’s uncertain start on the third day, twice dropping short and being hit for four by Shubman Gill in his first over back, emphasised that his leg-spin is a work in progress. Aged 19 and playing only his 15th first-class game, how could it not be?

Yet there was ample proof of England’s excitement. Ahmed bowled quicker than in any innings this series so far: about 1.5mph faster than in the second innings in Hyderabad, giving India’s batsmen less time. Vizag does not have the turn of Hyderabad; in lieu of spin, Ahmed found more drift. His three wickets gave a snapshot of Ahmed’s qualities: Rajat Patidar succumbed to a delivery that skidded on, but was slower and bounced less; Bharat mistimed a ball with more bounce.

Best of all was the final blow: Ashwin edging an immaculate leg-break, where Foakes completed another terrific catch. The ball to dismiss Ashwin was 55mph, 3.5mph more than the one that snared Patidar. It indicated both that Ahmed can bowl with extra pace and that he is developing subtle variations. For all the temptation to unfurl googlies and top spinners – especially for Ahmed, whose googly turns more than his leg break – Warne, who was once impressed by a 13-year-old Ahmed, showed that the most valuable change-up can be altogether less showy: a little extra pace, or bowling slightly wider on the crease.

And so, after a difficult introduction to Test cricket in India, this has been an encouraging response from Ahmed. As he ended the day thrashing and slashing a couple of boundaries, after being promoted to nighthawk, Ahmed might even have dared to hope that the best of his Vizag Test is yet to come.