Going after every ball and playing reckless shots is not the Indian way of playing spin.
There was ample chatter about the pitch since India lost the first Test in Bengaluru. The one in Pune was supposed to be a turner that would assist spinners aggressively. It didn’t turn out like that eventually, but Indian batters left no stone unturned to make it look diabolical.
All nine wickets on the second day fell to spinners who aren’t even regular bowlers in Test cricket – Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips. Before this game, Santner had a Test average of 42.16, and his strike rate of 91.66 was the worst for a bowler with at least 50 wickets since his debut. Phillips provides control but should still be manageable for Asian batters.
But Indian batters don’t really boast of managing spinners well on a track with even the slightest assistance for slow bowlers. Rewind to the Ranchi Test against England earlier this year. After batting first, England scored 353 on a slow turner, but India were reduced to 177/7 and were on the brink of falling heavily short of the target before Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav came to the rescue.
England had one of the most inexperienced spin attacks, but India didn’t handle them well at any stage, and every time a few individual brilliances saved the day for them. Obviously, England’s bowlers bowled well, but that doesn’t mean India didn’t play poorly. There were rash shots all around.
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There is a sense of vulnerability around India’s batting against spin. A few turning deliveries erode their composure; they dither and start trying too many things. Somehow, they try to hit boundaries and impose themselves on those spinners as if that is the only way to operate.
Sure, that is one way to counter spin, but only on rank turners when the attack is the only survival mode. Going after every ball and playing reckless shots is not the Indian way of playing spin. They overlook valuing good deliveries in an attempt to disrupt lines and lengths.
New Zealand have been smart enough to play with the egos of Indian batters. Take Sarfaraz Khan’s dismissal in the first innings, for instance. Mitchell Santner deliberately bowled a floaty delivery on the off-stump line by keeping a fielder deep at mid-off, and Sarfaraz miscued one while trying to clear that fielder and perished.
Where’s the trust in defence? The ideal method is not to fall for the bait and pounce on the loose stuff, which will surely come after a certain period. This happened to someone touted as one of the best players of spin; imagine the state of others.
Virat Kohli got out while hoicking across the line off a full toss of all deliveries and played on the backfoot to a fuller ball in the next. Ravindra Jadeja, likewise, played off the backfoot off a quicker fuller-length delivery in the first innings when all Santner did was bowl the stump line.
Indian batters are expected to find ways to survive even on turning tracks and not throw their wickets without looking to apply themselves. Todd Murphy, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and now Mitchell Santner – none had to work out batters before dismissing them; Indians have been generous enough to gift their wickets.
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One of the most important reasons behind India’s invincibility at home was their superior ability to play spin. Remember those games in Mumbai and Chennai during the 2016 Test series against England? India would go on to pile runs after runs and ensure batting only once on similar tracks.
So much talk has been around the intent since Rohit Sharma has taken over. Just for the sake of intent, India shouldn’t try funky stuff; rather, they should build their technique around defending the ball, even if it turns from the first ball of the Test. Enough of the so-called intent now, maybe.
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