3 times a left-arm spinner troubled India's batters in a home Test

India have been a dominant force at home, especially in Test cricket, and their records speak for themselves. In the past ten years, they haven't lost a single Test series at home and have faced defeat in just three Test matches.

One needs to go back to 2012 for the last time India were beaten in a Test series at home when they lost 2-1 to England. One of the secrets to their success over the past decade has been the presence of quality spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

However, there have also been times when opposition bowlers, particularly left-arm spinners, have troubled the Indian batters and left them clueless in their own backyard. On that note, let's take a look at three such bowlers:

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#3 Matthew Kuhnemann

Matthew Kuhnemann was not even in Australia's main squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. He was drafted in as a replacement for leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, who returned to Australia for the birth of his child.

But in just his second Test match, the left-arm spinner made a contribution that could well help his team win the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 Test in Indore. Winning the toss, India gleefully elected to bat first and the idea would have been to post a mammoth first innings total.

However, it was a brilliant spell from Matthew Kuhnemann that bundled out the hosts for just 109 in the first innings. His spell of 5/16 in just nine overs looks like a match-winning spell at the time of writing as the hosts just couldn't recover from that debacle on day one.

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#2 Steve O'Keefe

India were an absolute machine during the 2016/17 home season where they won every Test series and dropped just one Test. That one Test was against Australia in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017 in Pune.

Nathan Lyon had already become one of the top spinners in the world by then, but the visitors had another weapon up their sleeve in left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe. Australia scored 260 in the first innings on a rank-turner and all eyes were on how India would bat on the pitch.

O'Keefe ran through the hosts' batting line-up with figures of 6/35 and handed his team a massive first-innings lead of 155 runs. It was a blow that Virat Kohli and co. just couldn't recover from as the left-arm spinner picked up another six-wicket haul in the second innings. The visitors won the game by a massive margin of 333 runs.

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#1 Monty Panesar

One of the main reasons for England winning their Test series in India in 2012 was their spin attack of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Panesar, in particular, was simply sensational for the entire series, entangling the hosts in their own trap of producing rank turners.

After India's win in Ahmedabad, Panesar spun a web in the second Test in Mumbai and the third Test in Kolkata and trapped the hosts with some incredible bowling. His 6/81 spell in Mumbai absolutely left the hosts shell-shocked.

The pace at which he bowled was ideal for sharp turn and bounce and the opposition batters couldn't find an answer in the entire series.