Xtra Time Web Desk: The Indian cricket team is not leaving any stone unturned as far as preparations against the Australian spinners is concerned. As many as 10 spinners including the four in the main test squad are attending the short camp in Nagpur ahead of the first test which starts from February 9 at the VCA stadium.
The selectors had already named Sai Kishore, Washington Sundar and Saurabh Kumar as net bowlers. Off spinner Jayant Yadav and Pulkit Narang has also been added as net bowlers. The idea is to get the batters prepare well against the challenges posed by Nathan Lyon and Aussie spinners.
Keeping in mind the current India team doesn’t play spin well, Head Coach Rahul Dravid has got as many as 10 spinners to help Indian batters to prepare well against the Australian spinners.
Let’s look at the spinners in India camp Nagpur:
Ravichandran Ashwin (Off-spinner)
Ravindra Jadeja (Left-arm spinner)
Axar Patel (Left-arm spinner)
Kuldeep Yadav (Leg-spinner)
Saurabh Kumar (Left-arm spinner)
Jayant Yadav (Off-spinner)
Pulkit Narang (Off-spinner)
Sai Kishore (Left-arm spinner)
Rahul Chahar (Leg-spinner)
Washington Sundar (Off-spinner)
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have both struggled against left-arm spin or leg-spin. KL Rahul too has found it difficult. Cheteshwar Pujara has a better record against spin compared to others.
Let’s look at the statistics of top 4 Indian batters against spinners:
Rohit Sharma: 25 in 57 innings
Cheteshwar Pujara: 50 in 122 innings
Virat Kohli: 57 in 130 innings
KL Rahul: 19 in 38 innings
Australia have got 4 spinners in their test squad which includes Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar and Todd Murphy.