Panesar eyes India tour

England spinner Monty Panesar believes his side's victory in the final npower Test over South Africa will stand them in good stead for the winter.

England put the misery of series defeat aside to win at the Brit Oval on Monday in Kevin Pietersen's first Test as captain.

Monty Panesar is looking forward to the Test series against India in December

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Panesar claims the spirit in the squad was excellent and that can only bode well for this winter's testing tour of India.

The 26-year-old said: “We won the last Test match and it was nice to finish the series on a good note.

“We enjoyed having Kevin Pietersen captaining and the atmosphere, and we played good cricket at the Oval.

“We will take this on board and hopefully we will do well in the winter.”

Panesar has taken 114 wickets in his 33 Tests, made his debut in India in 2006 and is relishing the opportunity to return later in the year.

He added: “India is good fun. They love their cricket and are passionate about it.

“It's a challenging place to play as a spinner because they are obviously good players of spin and it's something that excites you.”