India suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of South Africa earlier this week as they lost 0-2 on home soil.
This was India's second clean sweep in a home Test series in consecutive years as they had also lost 3-0 against a visiting New Zealand side in 2024. The result also meant that Gautam Gambhir became the first Indian head coach to oversee two home series losses during his stint.
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Gambhir, along with the entire Indian squad, faced a lot of criticism for the meek surrender against the World Test Championship winners. Traditionally, Indian batters are known to be very good players of spin, and that is what once made the team almost invincible in home conditions.
However, the current crop of national team players were completely exposed by he likes of Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner of New Zealand and Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer of South Africa.
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Kapil Dev asks for more domestic participation
Legendary Indian captain and all-rounder Kapil Dev cited lack of domestic cricket exposure for the current Indian players as the reason why they struggle against spin bowling.
Kapil told Sportstar: "That was because they had individual style, footwork, and the fact that they played good domestic cricket on a variety of pitches. I just want to know how many of today’s top players are playing domestic cricket. That’s the most crucial thing. If you don’t play domestic cricket and don’t face quality bowlers, you are going to struggle."
He added: "I was surprised that India lost to New Zealand and South Africa at home, but we should have prepared better. Test cricket is different. You ask a person like me to defend, it will not work. But you ask someone like Ravi Shastri to bat the whole day, he will do it. Jimmy Amarnath and Sunil Gavaskar could stay in the middle for the entire day. They had the temperament because they played a lot of domestic cricket."
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Why did India lose against South Africa in the Test series?
According to Dev, pitches played a key role in deciding the fate of the series as he said: "The pitches are very, very important. Not the type where the game ends in two and a half days. You lose the toss and lose the game. What is the point of having a pitch where no team crosses 200? It is not good for the state of the five-day game.
"We are more occupied with T20s and ODIs, which means the batters hardly encounter bowler-friendly pitches. On surfaces offering a lot of help to spin and seam, you need patience and a different set of skills to thrive. Once you are ready to play on those pitches, your mindset affects how you tackle them. You do not have batters like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who knew how to stay at the wicket. Batting in Tests is about staying in the middle."
The India icon added: "You need better skills to tackle spin than to play pace, but it depends on the state of the pitch. If the turn or bounce is vicious, it becomes very difficult. Remember, footwork plays an important role. If your temperament is to go and hit like Rishabh Pant, it is different. You cannot ask Pant to defend. He is a genuine match-winner. He will go and hit the ball. He is not going to bat 100 balls to make 20. When he hits a six, we all go gaga. Do you tell him not to hit them? He is a batter who can demolish the opposition."
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