India didn’t have a very good time at home in the recent Test series against New Zealand. India lost all three Tests, getting whitewashed at home for the first time since 2000. A big glaring issue was Indian batters’ inability to play spin on turning wickets.
India's totals in four innings of two Tests played on turning tracks in Pune and Mumbai read 156, 245, 263 and 121.
The dismal 46 all out in the first innings of the opening Test in Bengaluru was partly due to India's decision to bat first in cloudy and rainy weather, which backfired. However, the batting collapses in Pune and Mumbai were an abject capitulation to spin.
Ajaz Patel's six-wicket haul, combined with Glenn Phillips' three wickets, helped the Kiwis win by 25 runs on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium, as the hosts failed to chase only 147.
Seeing how India capitulated for 125 runs in Mumbai, Aakash Chopra termed it as an admission that now Indian batsmen can't play spin that well.
"Now it feels like we should admit that we can't play spin. Let's be very, very honest, let's not beat around the bush. On flat tracks, we can (play spin), but everybody can on a flat track. The only difference is that we play spin better than other teams on flat tracks and bowl better as well because our spinners have quality.
So we win the quality vs quality battle. But if the track offers spin ever so slightly, then whether it is the Pune or the Wankhede in Mumbai (we fall short)...The New Zealand batters haven't struck as a unit. Daryl Mitchell played one inning of note, similarly to Tom Latham, and Rachin Ravindra...Still, they played spin better than us. Let's be absolutely honest," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra added that the sweep and reverse sweep shots employed by Indian batters to counter the Kiwi spinners cannot be mastered overnight and need a lot of practice before a batsman can execute it perfectly.
"Neither we have confidence in spin, nor do we have control over our shots. We are trying to find a shot when it's not there, trying sweeps, practicing it before the start of play every morning. But it's like learning a new language, my friend. If you don't know a language, it takes a lot of time to learn it," he said.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed in the New Zealand Tests, amassing 93 and 91 runs respectively. Pant, who made 64 on Sunday in a losing cause, was the top-scorer of the series with 261 runs. The next best Indian batsman was Yashasvi Jaiswal, placed at number five with his 190 runs.
Pointing at the reasons behind the failure of Indian batsmen against spin, Chopra said: "Why we can't? Because we don't play domestic cricket. When we focus more on white-ball cricket, then that habit of playing on turning pitches vanishes. We don't even remember when our main players last appeared in a first-class domestic match. So where are you going to practice?"
"You play international cricket, which is okay; but international cricket is played on good tracks 9 out of 10 times. When it happens on bad tracks, then you get caught. It's happening again and again," Chopra analyzed.
India’s next Test assignment will be the five-Test BGT 2024 series against Australia and India will need a 4-0 or 5-0 series win to qualify for the WTC 2025 final without worrying about other results.
(Times of India inputs)
