Sunil Gavaskar had once batted left-handed for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Karnataka in Bengaluru in the 1981-82 season. On a rank turner, Gavaskar had come up with the move to counter the left-arm spin of Raghuram Bhat, currently the BCCI treasurer.
The former India captain remained unbeaten on 18, saving Mumbai from an outright defeat. For a right-handed batsman to bat left-handed, that too in challenging conditions, and then remaining unbeaten is no mean feat. Such was the man’s defensive prowess.
From the current Team India batting group, where struggle and capitulation in challenging conditions seem to be becoming a regular affair, such a thing is unimaginable.
It isn’t just about the 93 all out chasing only 124 against South Africa at the Eden on a difficult wicket or losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home last year. There have been several instances since the 2017 Pune Test against Australia, where left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe had bamboozled the Virat Kohli-led India with a 12-wicket match haul, when Indian batters have had trouble facing disciplined spin bowling and dealing with turners. But what are the reasons behind this?
Sky-way not right way
The current generation of cricketers’ faulty application and wrong shot selection are making the job harder for them. “After Pujara, do we see anyone playing strokes along the ground after shimming down the track? Hardly anyone from the current team,” former Delhi coach KP Bhaskar Pillai, who averaged 52.84 from 95 first-class appearances, said on Monday.
“The batsmen of today seem adept only in hoicking the ball if they skip down the pitch. You can’t tackle spin by just hitting your way out of trouble. Problem is, the present team has a lot of stroke-players, but hardly anyone with a strong defence,” Pillai pointed out.
Pitch, a puzzle
To make sure India’s performance outside Asia improves, the focus in the domestic circuit has been on producing seamer-friendly tracks, a trend since the 2014-15 season. “When I was the coach-cum-mentor of Bengal (from 2018-19 to 2021-22), rarely we came across pitches having purchase for spinners. In most of our matches, we had to rely on our quicks, with all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed being the lone spinner,” Arun Lal, also a former Bengal captain, recalled. “How will aspiring batsmen learn to apply themselves against good spin bowling then?”
“The focus on pacer-friendly wickets did play a big role as we won in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, and did well in England too (on the last two tours). But in the domestic scene, you need classical Indian pitches (having something in it initially for the pacers and then for spinners from Day III onwards) if you want your batters to deliver at home,” former national selector Devang Gandhi said.
“Some of these guys came all the way from Australia, while some of them played on a completely different wicket in Bengaluru for India A (versus South Africa A). Thereafter, these guys had just three-four days in between to prepare for the Eden Test,” Devang, with 6,111 runs from 95 first-class games, explained.
All three experts also highlighted the lack of enough quality spinners in the current domestic scene, which denies young batters the opportunity to brush up on their spin-tackling skills.
DRS factor
Since its inception in 2008, the Decision Review System (DRS) doesn’t really allow batsmen to get away with errors from umpires. “Now, is DRS applicable only for Indian batters? How did Joe Root get a 200 and 100 here (in 2021 and 2024) or Steve Smith score a ton in the second innings of that 2017 Pune Test?” asked Devang.
“Ultimately, it’s all about preparation and getting a bit of time for acclimatisation as well.”
