Team India batter’s struggle spin in Tests continues. Only three batters average in excess of 50 against spinners in Tests from Jan 2023 till date (min 200 balls faced).
Team India batters are known to play spinners well across all conditions and pitches in the longer version of the game. India batters have had cricketing legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, VV Laxman, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag who were great players of spin and destroyed the opposition’s spin attack. Remember how Tendulkar combatted the Shane Warne threat in the home series against Australia in 1998? Virender Sehwag was among the few India batters who cracked the Ajantha Mendis code when the Sri Lanka player was at the peak of his career.
Legends such as Dravid, Sehwag, and Tendulkar were on top of their game against spin during their peaks, averaging above 60s. Other stars such as MS Dhoni and VVS Laxman also averaged above 50. The only exception was Sourav Ganguly, who averaged around 45 against spin.
Have a look at the stats of these legends from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2011 (minimum 1000 balls).
|
Players |
Innings |
Average |
Dismissals |
Runs |
Balls |
|
Rahul Dravid |
135 |
85.90 |
40 |
3436 |
6683 |
|
Virender Sehwag |
70 |
64.71 |
34 |
2200 |
2349 |
|
Sachin Tendulkar |
116 |
63.30 |
47 |
2975 |
5515 |
|
MS Dhoni |
73 |
56.07 |
27 |
1514 |
2511 |
|
VVS Laxman |
124 |
54.10 |
50 |
2705 |
5719 |
|
Gautam Gambhir |
49 |
53.05 |
21 |
1114 |
1918 |
|
Sourav Ganguly |
74 |
46.97 |
33 |
1550 |
2831 |
But has the current crop of India batters lived up to the reputation of being ‘great against spin’? Well, stats show only a handful of India batters have done well against spin since the beginning of 2023.
Read More: Top 5 Team India contenders to watch out for in Duleep Trophy 2024-25
Have a look at how India’s batters have fared against spin bowling in terms of batting averages since January 1, 2023. (Minimum 200 balls)
|
Players |
Innings |
Average |
Dismissals |
Runs |
Balls |
|
Yashasvi Jaiswal |
11 |
112.17 |
6 |
673 |
888 |
|
Axar Patel |
9 |
67.00 |
5 |
335 |
631 |
|
Dhruv Jurel |
4 |
50.70 |
3 |
151 |
279 |
|
Shubman Gill |
14 |
45.56 |
9 |
410 |
782 |
|
Virat Kohli |
9 |
43.12 |
8 |
345 |
776 |
|
Kuldeep Yadav |
6 |
40.00 |
2 |
80 |
275 |
|
Rohit Sharma |
17 |
37.54 |
13 |
488 |
879 |
|
Ravindra Jadeja |
14 |
26.58 |
12 |
319 |
822 |
|
KL Rahul |
5 |
23.40 |
5 |
117 |
221 |
|
C Pujara |
7 |
23.40 |
5 |
117 |
308 |
|
Shreyas Iyer |
8 |
18.86 |
7 |
132 |
229 |
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is currently the second-highest run-getter in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle, is India’s best batter against spin since January 1, 2023, followed by Axar Patel and Dhruv Jurel. India’s lower-order batter Axar has held India’s innings together during this phase with his gritty knocks, while Jurel came to fame with his fighting 90 against England in the Delhi Test earlier this year.
India’s top order, barring Jaiswal, has been shaky against spin. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma have all been averaging below 50 against spin. Rather surprisingly, India’s presumably strong batters against spin such as KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Shreyas Iyer have been rather below par during this phase, averaging below 25.
Read More: IND vs BAN, 2024-25: India’s probable spin combination against Bangladesh
Jaiswal tops the list in the last five years as well
Even in the last five years beginning September 1, 2019, Jaiswal tops the list against spin. Apart from Jaiswal, only three other India batters average above 50 in this phase: Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant. The likes of Iyer, Pujara, and Kohli continue to underperform in this phase as well, averaging below 50.Â
|
Players |
Innings |
Average |
Dismissals |
Runs |
Balls |
|
Yashasvi Jaiswal |
11 |
112.17 |
6 |
673 |
888 |
|
Mayank Agarwal |
12 |
80.43 |
7 |
563 |
821 |
|
Rishabh Pant |
24 |
62.58 |
12 |
751 |
774 |
|
Rohit Sharma |
35 |
51.00 |
22 |
1122 |
1792 |
|
Ravindra Jadeja |
32 |
47.56 |
16 |
761 |
1464 |
|
C Pujara |
38 |
43.35 |
17 |
737 |
1502 |
|
Shubman Gill |
30 |
41.59 |
17 |
707 |
1299 |
|
Shreyas Iyer |
18 |
41.46 |
13 |
539 |
859 |
|
Virat Kohli |
35 |
40.82 |
22 |
898 |
1789 |
Note: Stats from September 1, 2019 to September 8, 2024.
Possible reasons behind India’s batting decline vs spin?
White-ball cricket over red-ball cricket
In the recent past, few cricketers have decided to prefer white ball cricket over the longer version of the game. White-ball cricket or limited-over cricket is less taxing on the body and gives better monetary compensation compared to red-ball cricket. Cricketers such as Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were pulled up for not choosing to play domestic cricket when not selected for the national team and subsequently lost their central contracts. Kishan was seen even preparing for IPL 2024 while giving his state games a miss.Â
When preferences are for quick gains in white-ball cricket, the hard yard to fight out in the middle against spin bowling takes a backseat. Batters tend to bat out of trouble and throw their wicket away. The shorter format has seen technique against spin or fast bowling take a backseat in pursuit of quick runs through sixes and fours. However, Test cricket is a different ball game where technique, character, and skills are all tested. Hence, it’s no surprise that India’s batters have struggled even against lesser-known spinners in recent times.
Opting out of domestic cricket
Earlier, players used to grind it out in domestic cricket to get their shortcomings sorted and get back in form. But thanks to the hectic international season, players choose to rest in gaps between series rather than playing domestic cricket to be in top rhythm against all kinds of bowling. This kind of attitude has not helped India batters. They even struggled against the inexperienced spin attack of England recently, losing the first Test at Hyderabad. Notably, England spinner Tom Hartley took a match-winning haul of nine wickets. Thus, domestic cricket is an important mode of preparation for any national cricketer before an important series. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore.
GG era promises change
However, things are changing under new coach Gautam Gambhir, who has clearly mentioned that players have to play domestic cricket to stay in the hunt for national selection. Hence, one can see Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul queuing up to play Duleep Trophy ahead of squad selection for the Test series against Bangladesh at home.
