New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Brad Haddin has criticised India’s reliance on playing Tests on turning pitches, stating that Kolkata Test is the second such instance of this backfiring in Gautam Gambhir’s tenure and has exposed that the batting unit doesn’t have players who can play spin bowling well on such surfaces.

India’s batting struggles on spin-friendly pitches continued as they crashed to a 30-run defeat to South Africa at Eden Gardens inside three days. The loss came less than a year after India failed to chase 147 against New Zealand in Mumbai, resulting in a historic 0-3 series sweep defeat for the hosts.

“They’ve done it twice now under Gambhir. They play their best cricket when, its not about turning wickets but building scoreboard pressure with their runs. They’re taking their world-class batters out of the game. I just think they’re leaving too much to chance.

“India play their best cricket when they put a big total on the board, and then they make the opposition claustrophobic with their fields. Their spinners are better than anyone on those surfaces. Their batters actually aren’t that good of players of spin on a surface like that,” Haddin said on the Willow Talk podcast episode on Monday.

Haddin, who had been with Gambhir during their playing days for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, further pointed out how things were different under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.

“When Virat Kohli took over as captain back then, they batted long and put big scoreboard pressure. But they are leaving too much to chance. It brings ordinary spinners into the game. Your skill and the craft of using your drift, the different angles of the crease go out of it.

“You just have people who can throw the ball and the wicket will do the rest. The strange thing I heard was that Gambhir came out and said we are happy with the surface we are playing on. This cost them against New Zealand as well.”

India are now 0-1 behind in the two-game series and will face South Africa in the second Test, starting at ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy believes India need to play on better wickets as them losing Tests at home is just bizarre.

“I just don’t know what they’re doing to themselves. Batting against spin is not an easy thing around the world at the moment, even if you grow up playing on those wickets, and I think they should start working that out for themselves. But they keep giving themselves turning wickets, thinking it’s going to help them, and it hasn’t.

“New Zealand beat them at home doing that. So build yourself some flat wickets and let them go. I think their spinners are actually more effective on wickets that don’t do as much. Their batters will like and enjoy that as well. If that’s what genuinly they asked for, I don’t understand it because it actually brings the opposition back into the attack a little bit when you’ve got spinners that can do it.

“Like when you think about Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel to an extent as well, they actually were effective attacking the stumps. So I don’t know, but they’ll have to rethink it. They’re losing Test matches at home, which is a really bizarre thing for India to do. They’re going to have to look at it and go, what do we need to do? I think it might be, let’s play on some better wickets,” she added.

–IANS

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