India veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane has criticised the Indian team management led by head coach Gautam Gambhir for choosing to have spin-friendly pitches, while not preparing the batters to have the game on such surfaces.

Rahane disputed Gambhir's assessment of India's loss to South Africa in the first Test in Kolkata, stating it was unfair to blame the batsmen when the Eden Gardens ground proved challenging for both teams.

India lost the series opener in Kolkata by 30 runs after failing to chase down 124 in the final innings. In a Test that lasted two and a half days, neither team scored more over 200 runs.  

Head coach Gautam Gambhir defended the pitch, despite criticism that it was too severe, with hitters laboring with irregular bounce and excessive spin. Gambhir insisted that no matter how the wicket played, his batters should’ve chased 124 in the final innings.  

Rahane noted that Indian batters are no longer prepared to play on such twisting tracks because to the changing nature of home pitches, which are often flat or pacer-friendly.

“In Tests, we make pitches that turn. But if you have quality spinners, yes, you can make turning wickets. However, you need to understand when they should start turning. If you want wickets that turn from Day 1, then you must have similar pitches in domestic cricket.

Because if your players are going to play on such wickets in Test matches, they need to experience the same in domestic cricket. Domestically, we generally play on flat or seaming pitches. Very few have been rank turners. Yes, a couple of red-soil pitches assist turn, but that usually happens from Day 3 onwards. The first two days are good for batting,” Rahane stated on R Ashwin’s YouTube channel.

“Also, when you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently. I don’t think we can fault the players here. They haven’t played on such wickets. Even in practice, they don’t train on such pitches,” he said.

Rahane highlighted how visiting teams are preparing better for their Tests in India. He claimed that Indian teams do not give their batsmen enough time to acclimate to spin-friendly conditions and advised the management to consider 10- to 15-day camps before each Test series.

“Why are we doing well overseas? Because our preparation for touring abroad is good. We play on seaming and bouncy wickets. But for spinning pitches, we haven’t prepared as well. So, it has been really challenging for our batters to play on such wickets.

Yes, home advantage should be used. We need to bring the spinners into play. But we also need to prepare our batters. Hold a 10- to 15-day camp and start preparing for that.

“Look at England and New Zealand’s preparations. They had camps. England had a camp in Dubai. New Zealand camped in India. But we assemble only three or four days before a Test match and still expect our batters to do well?” he added.

As Rahane pointed out, South Africa arrived in India after playing two Tests on spin-friendly wickets in Pakistan. India, meanwhile, traveled directly to Kolkata after completing a white-ball series in Australia.

Some Test regulars who were not on the Australia tour, including Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Dhruv Jurel, played a four-day match for India A against South Africa A in Bengaluru, albeit on a flat pitch.

India will be without Shubman Gill for the second Test, starting on 22 November in Guwahati. Rishabh Pant will captain India instead.