BGT 2024-25: Sunil Gavaskar points out why Indian batters are failing against spin!
Xtra Time Web Desk: Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the root cause of Indian batters being failed to score against spin. The struggle against spin is evident in the dropping average of the batting unit since 2021.
Virat Kohli, the star batter from Indian camp had an average of 68.42 at home till 2019 but now it has dropped to 29.92 since 2021. The average of captain Rohit Sharma against spin has dropped to 35.58 from 88.33 and KL Rahul has faced a drop of average from 44.25 to 29.33. This significant fall of average highlights the gap between planning and execution. India needs to address and solve this issue as soon as possible to reclaim their domination in world test cricket.
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Gavaskar pointed out how playing a lot of white ball cricket has effected batters from playing with soft hands which results in their downfall on spinning and seaming tarcks. He stated, "Yes, I think it's it. It it's It's been a situation ever since the White ball game has come in. Uh, the white ball game encourages batters to play with hard hands, where you're looking to push at the ball to get the ball away. Now on pitches where the ball is doing something, whether it is seam swing turn, I think you need to be playing with at least one soft hand, if not two soft hands. And therefore you know that bat speed, which can be then controlled, where the edges, which are now going to the slip fielders would fall just a little short if you played with soft hands. So it's the bat speed that has been the cause, because India is now playing a lot more of the white ball game than test matches."
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India's dropping numbers vs spin since 2021
Indian batters have struggled against spinners on home soil since 2021 which is evident in their dropping batting averages. Star batter Virat Kohli had an average of 68.42 at home till 2019 which has now dropped to 29.92 since 2021. Captain Rohit Sharma (88.33 to 35.58) and KL Rahul (44.25 to 29.33) have also experienced significant drops. Hence, the Asian Giants need to turn things around quickly to restart their home dominance after being humbled by New Zealand. They will next travel to Australia where they need to win four out of five Test matches to make it to their third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final.
