Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull insisted that rank turners have helped visiting teams in India, more than the home team after the Indian side continued their horror run at home under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. India, on Sunday, lost by 25 runs in the third and final Test match of the series against New Zealand in Mumbai to incur an embarrassing 0-3 whitewash.
India failed to chase down 147 on Day 3 of the match at the Wankhede Stadium as Ajaz Patel, who took a five-wicket haul in the opening innings, inflicted another batting collapse en route to his 11-wicket haul. The home team were reduced to five down for just 29 runs in the opening eight overs, before being bundled an hour after Lunch.
With the loss, India incurred their first whitewash at home in a Test series (minimum of three matches), while Rohit became the second captain after Mansoor Pataudi (1969) to lose four Test matches in a single calendar year. Overall, India suffered five home defeats under his leadership – against Australia in Indore last year, against England in Hyderabad earlier this year and against New Zealand in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.
Speaking to JioCinema, Doull admitted that Indian batters have shown vulnerability against spin, averaging below 25 against the New Zealand tweakers for 37 dismissals. He reckoned that the reason behind their current run has been their obsession with rolling out rank turners, which has allowed the opposition a fair chance to battle against India.
Doull explained that India’s historic 18-series home run was because they produced decent batting surfaces while world-class spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took care of the bowling department. However, in the case of rank turners, “ordinary” spinners like England’s Tom Hartley (9 wickets in Hyderabad Test) and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (13 wickets in Pune Test) have managed to trouble India batters.
“It is a cause concern. And you know, as I said in Pune, the miss. The misconception that the Indian batters are better at playing spin is exactly that. It is a misconception. The reason India have had success at home predominantly is because in conditions that are decent for batting, they’ve had the two best in the world. And the numbers do not lie around Jadeja and Ashwin. And it doesn’t have to be a turning pitch for them to have success. If it’s got for a little bit, they will find it. And that’s why I think India have been so successful.
They produce surfaces that their batters can get runs on, but their spinners have been so much better. And the numbers around those spinners far outweigh most other spinners worldwide. Very few spinners outside Nathan Lyon have better records than Ashwin and Jadeja. And I mean, I don’t think anyone does. So to me, all of India’s success was around just good pitches, really good pitches. Allow your batters to get the runs and our spinners will be better than yours,” Doull said.
“What’s happened now is they’ve let opposition spinners in, and with all due respect, Tom Hartley and Mitchell Sander are guys that you would not say would come here and be high-quality test match bowlers. But India is being undone by these ypes of bowlers now, and I think that is where the problem lies. It’s not with their ability to play spin compared to the others; it’s with the surface. And they have always had the best spinners. You throw Axar in, Kuldeep in. They’ve had a great raft of high-quality spinners, but they’re trying to allow, or they are allowing other teams into the competition by producing pitches where good spinners, you know, average to good spinners, are able to get good players out. And I think therein lies the problem. It was still okay when it was a one off game in the series, but yeah, you’re right, Tom Hartley, Matthew Kuhnemann, Steven O’Keefe and even Mitchell Santner in that game. Even if it was a one off thing, it was okay,” he added.
‘Australia will keep reminding them of this whitewash’
In less than a week’s time, India will be leaving for Perth for the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Test series, with the World Test Championship final qualification will be on the line. Ahead of the series, Doull warned India that they would be constantly reminded of this whitewash from the moment they land in Australia for the five-match contest.
“It will require a lot of strength of character to bounce back from this. I mean it’s the same set of players who are traveling to Australia and it’s never easy going to Australia. Yes, India has certainly won the last two series that India has played in Australia, so that’s a good part. But then when you go on the back of a three nil whitewash to Australia, I’m sure the whole of Australia will be waiting and reminding them about this every single minute, every single moment that they step into Australia. Four wins, one draw is what they needed. And a lot of tough questions to be answered for Rohit Sharma and his men,” he said.
India cannot afford a single defeat or more than one draw in the Australia series to remain in contention for a spot in the WTC final.
