The series loss to New Zealand has left India in a bit of disarray as they failed to put up a challenge in several departments at home in the first two Tests. It was a collective failure where the batters failed to tackle the Kiwi spinners on the turning track at Pune and faltered miserably in both innings, while the senior spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had an ordinary match with ball.
Ashwin claimed five wickets in Pune, while Jadeja picked three scalps as the senior duo failed to take advantage of the turning track as compared to young Washington Sundar who claimed a ten-wicket haul. Mitchell Santner, who is New Zealand’s white-ball specialist, also spun his web and claimed 13 wickets in the match to dismantle the Indian batting line-up.
Team India is not expected to hit the panic button at the moment, but the first home series defeat in a decade will force them to brainstorm ways to tune things up before it becomes a worry.
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra made a blunt assessment that the Indian bowlers were outbowled as, apart from Washington Sundar, the other two spinners failed to put their A-game on the table.
“You believe spin is our strength. However, are we bowling spin well? That is another big question because we were outbowled. Of course, Washington Sundar changed the game totally. He bowled a few overs and picked up a lot of wickets. You say ‘brilliant’ when you see his performance,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
He suggested that both Ashwin and Jadeja are ageing spinners, and soon, the question will be raised about them, and the transition phase might kick in.
“However, if Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are playing together and don’t do that well, you start feeling, although Ravichandran Ashwin was the Player of the Series recently. He works his way out. However, the question is going to come very soon that there will be a transition for them as well. They are the ageing spinners,” Chopra added.
However, Chopra feels that India is missing the trick to prepare for the future and expressed his disappointment with the treatment of Kuldeep Yadav, who was dropped from India’s XI for the Pune Test.
“In such a scenario, I feel India are missing a trick. Ashwin will go first because he is more aged. Jadeja is fitter and younger as well. So he will stay for longer. You need to start grooming. You started giving a chance to Washington Sundar now but you didn’t do the right thing with Kuldeep,” he said.
Kuldeep Yadav out of BGT 2024-25 squad
Chopra also raised questions over Kuldeep’s absence from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad for injury management while he remains part of the team for the third Test versus New Zealand.
“You are not preparing Kuldeep and he is that guy because modern-day batters surrender against such wrist spin. However, we are not playing him. We are not being honest with him in a sense. He is being sent for injury management although he is available for the Mumbai match,” Chopra observed.
