Shrey Saboo, Jadetimes Staff
Shrey Saboo is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Sports News
The Indian test team recently conceded their first Test series at home in 12 years. This resulted in the end of a streak of 18 victories, signalling the symbolic end of a glorious era. India's dominance in Test cricket at home has been unquestionable for years. For decades, India has been synonymous with the art of spin bowling. Kumble, Harbhajan, and Ashwin have made batting on home soil quite panick - stricken for batsmen. Once known for their strength in tackling spin on home soil, Indian batters have struggled to maintain the same high standards in recent years. Since 2021, there has been a noticeable decline in the performance of their batters. The concerns over India's batting performance against spin, especially in Test cricket, have grown alarmingly.
India’s batting unit was completely dismantled by New Zealand’s spinners. This sparked concerns and called for introspection from legends like Sachin Tendulkar. The series loss not only highlighted vulnerabilities in India’s batting line-up but also put their position in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings in jeopardy. A 3-0 result would have been a foregone conclusion. Few could see New Zealand inflicting the whitewash on the Indian soil. It had been an open secret, though, that India's dominance in spin-friendly conditions was fading-a reality. However, the Indian team management has been reluctant to fully succumb to this reality. The decline is particularly evident when comparing their recent performances to the period from 2016 to 2020, and from then onwards.
Indian batters performed against spin in Tests at home?
India's top seven batters averaged 63.36 against spin between 2016 and 2020. Since then, their average has dipped to 37.56, almost 41 percent from what it has plummeted from 2021 onward. Earlier, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara excelled among spinners. Kohli had scored 1342 runs at 13 dismissals, but since 2021, he has scored only 771 runs with 24 dismissals against spinners. Pujara's numbers have declined from 1128 runs to just 277 runs in the same period of time. This resulted in Pujara's exclusion from the team. The problem India had against the spinners was apparent at the very start of this year. Although Indian team secured a series 4-1 against England, India's batting average against the spinners had hit a low of 39.9. This proves the form had gone to worst. All these weaknesses of the team were exposed in the New Zealand series. In front of New Zealand spinners, India's average was as low as 24.4 and lost 37 wickets in three successive matches to spin.
Reasons behind the struggle against spin
Several reasons can be blamed upon for the downfall of the Indian batters. Among them, perhaps the prime reason is that the spin bowling of the visiting sides have become better. Over the recent years bowlers from Australia, England, and New Zealand, fully exploited the Indian conditions. Since 2021, as many as 11 foreign spinners have picked up eight or more wickets in India. Their average runs per wicket are below 30 as well. When it comes to foreign star players who played in the Indian Premier League (IPL), they got a better feel of the spin-friendly but tricky conditions. Despite that, it will be a growing concern for the current and future team management with the inability of Indian batters to counter such a threat with their technique.
As Tendulkar observed, "It's time for introspection." Indian loss to New Zealand recently on home soil indicates the need for reassessment in strategy, particularly on the spin-heavy pitches. Besides revisiting their approach to the home conditions, it means a hard look at the techniques to counter overseas spinners. India, with a stake so high, is geared up once again to accept the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There are no margins for mistakes at this stage as it can take India into the World Test Championship final.
