Tests vs SA: Why are Indian batters forgetting to play spin?

The sense of shock has still not subsided more than 24 hours after South Africa pulled the rug from beneath India’s feet, handing the latter a 30-run defeat at the fortress of Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The meek, unplanned chase which saw the hosts capitulate for 93 all out raked up the nightmare of 1997 at Barbados, where Sachin Tendulkar & Co. collapsed to 81 all out against the West Indies, chasing a paltry 120.

While the team management (read head coach Gautam Gambhir) is being torn apart for insisting on a bone-dry surface which made for unpredictable and tricky bounce, the serious question now is: how is India, which produced such great players of spin in the past, coming a cropper against overseas spinners? If it was the Mitchell Santner-Ajaz Patel duo for the Kiwis last year, the unheralded Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj gave India hell on a third-day wicket at Eden.

‘’The result here may encourage the Proteas to field a third spinner in Senuran Muthuswamy in Guwahati. Down 1-0 in a short series, India will be under pressure there as Shubman Gill — the only other guy in this line-up apart from K.L. Rahul who can hold things together — seems doubtful,’’ said Ashok Malhotra, former Test veteran and acknowledged as one of the finest players of spin bowling.

Gill, who was admitted to a Kolkata hospital on Saturday after a neck spasm while batting, was ruled out from any further participation in the match. While he was released on Sunday, reports say he will be monitored and may be asked to take caution while flying as the squads are scheduled to take a short flight to the Assam capital on Wednesday.

The greatest irony of it all is that India, who flaunted the theory of ‘playing to strengths’ after running roughshod over its rivals each time for a period of 12 years at home since 2012, is now being beaten at its own game. A scathing criticism of India's dwindling skills against spin came from England great Kevin Pietersen, who has enjoyed the benefits of the IPL gravy train as a player, TV pundit and now mentor for Delhi Capitals.         

Taking to his social media handle, KP said: ‘’Just hear me out here: Seeing the wicket first and then the scores and then the result in Kolkata, it can only be put down to batters modern day techniques. Batters grow up now to hit sixes and play switch-hits. They don’t grow up to build an innings and learn the art of survival. This is fact, as I know what’s being taught and I’m a part of many player discussions.’’

‘’The player is not to blame at all as it is exactly where the modern day game is. The priority right now in the game isn’t about survival or the art of playing a spinning ball. The game of cricket is now about bright lights, loud music and a financial return for cricket boards, private equity and private ownership,’’ the former England captain said in his X post.

Speaking to National Herald, Malhotra, now a TV pundit, said: ‘’It’s simple — we grew up playing on turning tracks and hence were forced to learn the art of survival. Like playing pace, tackling spin is also an art, but the current generation of batters don’t get a chance to hone that. They are essentially a T20 generation who don’t want to play Tests and the likes of a (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Ajinkya) Rahane or even KL will become an extinct species soon.’’

Elaborating on the issue, former international Pravin Amre — a go-to person for names like Rahane, Shreyas Iyer or Prithvi Shaw — stressed the need for preparation to play spin along with pace for course correction. ‘’The batters need to play enough red-ball cricket to be able to tackle quality spinner. Otherwise, preparing such tracks can often boomerang and this is what happened in Kolkata,’’ said Amre, who has been a batting coach for Delhi Capitals and other IPL franchises.