Do centrally contracted players for Team India make domestic red-ball cricket compulsory for Test match preparedness? Players not playing Ranji Trophy averages under 35 against spinners.
Team India were embarrassed at home as New Zealand whitewashed them 0-3 in the recent Test series. Some of the top stars such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have failed miserably during the series. It begs the question whether India were underprepared or not prepared at all to tackle the Kiwi challenge at home.
India batters, who played on spinning tracks in India throughout their careers, struggled against New Zealand spinners who even outsmarted the India tweakers. Was India batters’ lack of red-ball preparedness or lack of domestic matches under their belt responsible for their biggest shame in India?
Rohit and Kohli’s domestic exposure
Virat Kohli had last played a Ranji Trophy match in November 2012. Rohit Sharma had not played any Ranji game since 2015. The other batting stars such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan were all part of the Duleep Trophy preceding the Bangladesh series. However, it was only after the BCCI had made it mandatory for India batters to make themselves available for domestic cricket when not on national duty that the players were back to grinding it out in the Duleep Trophy. But Rohit, Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah gave it a miss as exceptions were made for them.
As it turned out, RO-KO produced their worst batting performances in the series, while the youngsters didn’t play up to their potential. Those who did grind it out in the Duleep Trophy before the Test season at home had some game time in red-ball cricket, but the lack of preparedness showed even in the Bangladesh series. The top-order collapsed regularly before being rescued by the lower-order.
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Struggles against spin
Another point of contention is India batters’ struggle against spin bowling. Since January 2023, Kohli, Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja average below 33 against spin bowling at home. These stars have not faced any quality spinners at home in domestic cricket for long. The other top stars – Jaiswal, Gill and Pant average above 45 against spin bowling at home. This lack of preparedness against quality spin bowling in domestic cricket at home showed in their poor returns in the 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand.
India batters’ stats against spin bowling at home in Tests since January 2023 till now
| Players | Innings | Runs | Out | Average | Strike Rate |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 16 | 804 | 11 | 73.10 | 88.90 |
| Rohit Sharma | 20 | 462 | 14 | 33.00 | 60.30 |
| Shubman Gill | 18 | 623 | 14 | 44.50 | 56.20 |
| Virat Kohli | 14 | 385 | 13 | 29.60 | 52.50 |
| Rishabh Pant | 9 | 295 | 6 | 49.20 | 99.70 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 17 | 443 | 16 | 27.70 | 44.80 |
Meanwhile, New Zealand, who were coming off a 0-2 series loss in Sri Lanka, were better prepared this time to tackle the spin-friendly conditions in India as they were given a reality check in the Lanka series. Their spinners also came to the party, namely Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel, who outperformed the India tweakers.
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Reasons behind struggles against spin
A look at Indian pitches shows that the wicket is flatter or grassy, and not rank turners. With the ICC keeping a close eye on pitches being sporting, the Indian wickets have been made to suit the batters and pacers. Hence, we see a deluge of fast bowlers coming up the ranks, but hardly any quality spinners making inroads. It would be a challenge for India to replace spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja once they call it a day. Washington Sundar looks a good prospect but it is still early days for him.
So, when suddenly India produced spinning wickets in Pune and Mumbai to bounce back in the series, the India batters struggled to combat the spin challenge from New Zealand, and fell like ninepins. Their technique against quality spin bowling was exposed as Kiwi spinners made merry. The idea to have rank turners for the last two Tests backfired on India as the Kiwi batters and spinners were better prepared for the challenge.
The way ahead
Not only were India complacent, but they were underprepared against New Zealand. They were not up for the challenge against the Kiwi tweakers. The BCCI should produce more rank turners at home to help improve the skills of India batters to play quality spin bowling and also make it mandatory for their national players to play domestic cricket regularly to be better accustomed to home conditions. Unless these stars play domestic cricket regularly, a quality team in New Zealand will continue to embarrass India at home.
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