Jamie Overton is, by his own admission, “not the greatest against spin”.

In this T20 series against India, that much has been clear. Despite making his name as a fast bowler alongside his twin brother Craig, Overton is batting in the key No 7 spot, and has managed just seven runs from 12 balls in three innings. On each occasion, he has been dismissed by spin.

Overton is being trusted as England’s pivot. After the memorable win in Rajkot, the captain Jos Buttler described Overton as “gold dust” – as a triple-threat cricketer who bats, bowls and fields well. “We know he’ll come good,” added Buttler.

While for much of this series, he has looked a position or two too high in the order, he has impressed in his role as the fourth quick bowler in a seam-heavy attack. He has hammered away at the top of off stump, bowled variations in the second half of the innings, and took three for 23 in Rajkot.

Right now, England’s all-rounder is an emblem for the team, who have a batting order struggling to play spin, and a bowling line-up keeping them in games. Can he fulfil the role of a genuine all-rounder?

Overton is 31 this year, and was first named in an England squad – as a tearaway quick – in 2013. But in this role he readily admits he is “100 per cent learning on the job”, with an eye on next year’s T20 World Cup.

“I am happy to say I’m not the greatest against spin,” he said. “It’s something I’m working really hard on with [batting coach] Marcus Trescothick and Jeetan Patel, the spin-bowling coach. I really want to work on it.

“It’s about learning in these conditions because I’ve never played over here.

“I grew up at Taunton and play at the Oval now. It doesn’t really spin in T20 cricket, so it’s trying to get a method of how I want to go about it.”

An issue for Overton is that England’s top six are simply asking too much of him. He has come to the crease in the 12th over twice and the 14th once, with India’s spinners in full flow. That is because the specialist batsmen are going extremely hard, hitting boundaries but losing wickets.

Overton has been selected on the basis of some very striking performances as a finisher on the franchise circuit. He marmalises pace bowling in the death overs. At the recent Big Bash, he finished not out in seven of his nine innings, smashing 191 runs at a strike rate of 157. In the past five seasons of the Vitality Blast, his strike rate has never been below 167. At Surrey, they jokingly call him “Dre Russ”, in honour of West Indies’s biffer Andre Russell, who also happens to bowl quickly. His overall T20 strike rate of 158.5 is bettered by only seven men who have more than 1,000 runs in the format.

But England are asking him to come in much earlier than that, and he has been dismissed before the Overton Window: the death overs. In Rajkot, he fell trying to deftly lap-sweep his first ball, and was bowled. “I know I got out, but I was trying to bat for another two or three overs, trying to whack it if it’s there to hit, but really trying to load up for the back end,” he explained. “They bowl four overs of seam at the end. That is my area, and it’s trying to get to that point.”

Overton has identified his two-month spell with Chennai Super Kings at the Indian Premier League this year as an opportunity to learn the art of playing spin. On Saturday, he received a raucous reception from the fans at Chepauk, which is a venue famed for taking spin. He has also pledged to watch Hardik Pandya, who is effectively a daunting opposite number in this series.

In effect, Overton is being asked to replace Ben Stokes – playing a specific role with the bat, and bowling a bit. The balance he brings means England are not about to drop him, or drop him down the order to rebalance the side. And they do not have too many options anyway, with Jamie Smith likely out of the remaining T20s with the calf injury he aggravated in Rajkot. Jacob Bethell will come in for him, while Rehan Ahmed could replace a seamer if turn looks likely.

There are other reasons beyond his batting and bowling that make England like Overton. He brings snarl to their side, as seen at the Big Bash, where he had a run-in with Australia’s Tim David. Overton says he is trying to curb his natural instincts to improve his bowling.

“I get a little bit heated at times,” he said. “I think I’ll always have that in me because that’s just my personality.

“It’s just passion. Most of the time it’s trying to get me fired up, trying to make something happen. Sometimes I take it too far and I lose control of what I need to do. I’ve heard a few philosophers, it’s just trying to be like a ninja. Being quite aggressive but trying to sneakily do it rather than being like a warrior and in someone’s face.

“I think there’s a balance. I chatted with [his Surrey team-mate] Chris Jordan and I just had a few messages with him after that incident [with David]. The overs we bowl, we bowl at the end, you have to be cool, you have to be calm, you have to be collected on what you need to be doing. If you’ve got other stuff going on in your head, you can’t execute what you need to execute.”

With one Test cap to his name, Overton says he has ambitions to play in this winter’s Ashes, as his brother did in 2017. If he does, he will be selected as a bowler. But for now, England need his batting to come good on its promise.