Former spinner Harbhajan Singh believes India preparing rank turners to win Test matches at home has dented the confidence of their batters massively over the years.
The nature of Test pitches in India have been a topic of debate. India's stance has been quite clear as they go for victory by playing to their strengths.
While the spin-friendly tracks played a part in India's 18 consecutive Test series at home, it also had its drawbacks. The biggest one is the dip in averages of leading batters such as Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane among others.
Harbhajan cited the example of Rahane after India lost their first Test series in 12 years on Saturday (October 26).
On a Pune turner against New Zealand, India’s two innings folded for 156 and 245 as the Kiwi spinner Mitchell Santner returned with 13 wickets to script his team’s series-clinching 113-run victory.
"If you have had great record at home for so long and if you lose, obviously there will be chatter. Credit to New Zealand for playing the way they did and these were alien conditions and also not a pitch where wear and tear was natural. It was a tailor-made condition for spinners where ball was supposed to turn from first hour," Harbhajan told PTI in an interaction.
Not one to mince his words, Harbhajan questioned the thought process of the Indian team, which is proving to be counter-productive.
"Look at the trend during last decades. We are playing mostly on turners through the last decade with the hope that we will win the toss, score 300 and control the game.
"But we don't know if we are at the receiving end, if we have the batting to wriggle out on turners. Our batters have lost a lot of confidence playing on these tracks. The biggest example is Ajinkya Rahane, a fine player. His career suffered because of these kind of surfaces," he remarked.
Harbhajan Singh explained how batters lose confidence by playing on such pitches. "We always get into whataboutery that they (SENA countries) also prepare pitches as per their needs but those aren't pitches where you can't even bat. Those pitches go through natural wear and tear over time.
"Here if you don't know which one will turn and which one will go straight, you are forever fighting doubts whether to attack or defend. Even Virat Kohli has fared well abroad in last few years where the ball comes onto the bat.
"Now you have three bad home Tests on these tracks but selectors know that you are a good player and take you on overseas tour, but by then, not having runs under your belt has started playing havoc with your mindset.
"You also fail in a couple of overseas Tests, and suddenly, you are out of the team. Is that a good thing?" the 'Turbanator' asked.
Harbhajan said India didn’t need to play specialist spinners given the kind of pitches they have prepared in past few years.
"If you prepare rank turners, you don't play spinners who can turn the ball on flattest of decks. All you need is bowlers who are accurate. Washy (Washington Sundar) and Axar (Patel) can do the job, and you won't need Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's quality. You had Joe Root getting five wickets here some years back. Bring Varun Chakravarthy, who is a white-ball specialist. He will run through sides," he stated.
The third Test against New Zealand, slated to be held in Mumbai from November 1, has become a must-win for India to stay in the WTC final race. The Rohit Sharma-led side will next travel to Australia for the five-match Test series.
Losing the New Zealand series 3-0 will make life rather difficult for India as they need at least four wins in the remaining six Tests and will need to depend on other teams to qualify for the WTC final.
(With PTI Inputs)
