The once formidable and almost invincible Indian team at home has seen that security rocked, as New Zealand and South Africa travelled to the subcontinent in consecutive years and blew the doors wide open in India’s fortress. The record of five losses in five Test matches against this pair of things goes to show that there are a range of issues plaguing Gautam Gambhir’s team and it’s not an easy answer – but the starting point will certainly be the weaknesses that have popped up against spin bowling.
KL Rahul at a press conference ahead of India’s ODI series vs South Africa.(PTI)
It’s a difficult question to answer, and when posed with why India have had this kind of fall-off, the stand-in ODI captain KL Rahul didn’t have too many answers in his press conference. However, he was happy to admit that the Indian team could use the help from generations of the past who were renowned for their play against spin.
“I can’t give a definitive answer,” Rahul said regarding India’s spin woes. “All I can say is we have obviously not have been able to play spin bowling well for 2-3 series, and that is something we recognise as batters.”
Rahul then referenced Sunil Gavaskar as one of the legends in the Indian media circuit who the team might be able to approach for tips, with the Indian legend having developed into one of the best batters of all time thanks to a sensational technique against the turning ball.
“We can speak to someone like Gavaskar sir and learn from him, and we’re already trying to find ways how we can play better against spin. That won’t happen overnight, and I don’t know the answer for why we were able to play earlier but not now, there are a lot of reasons for this. But we will just work on how individually we can get better,” said Rahul.
‘When this situation comes again…’
Proteas spinner Simon Harmer was the player India struggled against in the Test series vs South Africa, taking 17 wickets in two matches and winning player of the series, but he joins the ranks of players like Mitchell Santner who have outfoxed India in India, as well as players like Ajaz Patel and Todd Murphy who have enjoyed incredible wicket-taking performances on the subcontinent.
“When this situation comes again in 6-7 months in our series in Sri Lanka, then a home series against Australia, how we can do better and what technical changes we need to make, we’ll individually try to seek answers and try to do better,” continued Rahul, with India needing a massive boost after a very poor stretch in Test cricket over the last 12 months.
Rahul once again stated the team would look for help from players of the past, while also having access to former teammates such as Cheteshwar Pujara, an exemplary of batting against spin and one who this generation of Indian cricketers have sorely missed.
“We used to play spin better in the past, we’ll reach out to those players, our seniors, and will try to learn,” concluded Rahul, who will lead India in the 50-over efforts against South Africa this week.