Indian batters are no longer great players of spin. That’s the consensus. Earlier, it was just one or two ex-cricketers who voiced their criticism, but over the last couple of weeks, this opinion has been gaining numbers. Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has just ripped into several of India’s batters and even compared Rohit Sharma‘s side approach against spinners to that of England’s.
In his column for ESPNcricinfo, Chappell talked in length about the Indian batter’s tactic against turners and even cautioned that something catastrophic might happen during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 considering India’s performance against New Zealand, i.e., a first-ever 0-3 series defeat at home.
India’s laughable play against spin
Chappell talked about how India’s reaction to losing 0-2 was changing their approach towards playing spin. They went all-in on the sweep, much like England, and paid heavily for it. “Apparently India practised in Mumbai with lines drawn on the pitches and a serious focus placed on the sweep shot. Some of England’s batting of late on surfaces that spin has been laughable. The Indian reaction to their two deflating defeats is in a similar category,” he wrote.
No longer top-class batters?
Chappell also exposed how, unlike before, the current Indian batter’s footwork isn’t that great. Gone are the days when Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan struggled against the likes of Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar.
“Top-class batters don’t need lines on a pitch. They already know how to bat, along with which balls to play and those to leave alone. The question should have been, why was there such a disturbing lack of decisive footwork from India’s premier batters in Pune?” he said.
Virat Kohli‘s dismissal was 101 lack of decision footwork, according to Chappell. What should have been smashed to the boundary by converting into a full toss was converted into a yorker of sorts by Kohli in the Pune Test. Questioning his shot selector, Chappell wrote, “Star batter Virat Kohli’s first-innings dismissal was the perfect example of India’s lack of decisive footwork. Kohli was clean bowled by a delivery from Santner that if the batter had taken even a small pace out of his crease he could have hit on the full. However, instead of Kohli’s lack of decisive footwork being the culprit, his shot selection was questioned.“
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