Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has contributed to this conversation by explaining the emergence of this pattern. Indian batsmen of today seem more at ease with world-class pace than with good spin. India’s susceptibility to spin was once again demonstrated during the Kolkata Test match against South Africa, when Gautam Gambhir’s request for a turning track from the team management backfired.
Former cricketer R Ashwin was quick to point out that players from several Western nations now play spin better than many Indians, especially when Indian batsmen were clearly having trouble.
“At the moment, we are not the greatest spin in the world. We don’t practise it enough, but most Western teams are now better than India because they visit India and practise it more. However, because we view that as a challenge, we are currently better fast bowlers in many other settings, but not in this one. On his YouTube channel, Ashwin stated, “That’s the difference.”
The former player has frequently called for closer ties with domestic cricket, but he did not hold back when pointing out that many Indian players do not compete in the Ranji Trophy, even when their schedules permit them. It becomes ridiculous to expect them to perform well on turning tracks, which are typical in domestic cricket.
“Many of our guys are not domestic cricket players. You will have the opportunity to play on such fields if you play domestic cricket, right? There will be pitches where the ball will grip and turn somewhat because clubs are vying for points to go to the Ranji Trophy knockout stages even at the domestic level. However, none of our players are engaging in that activity. Not one of our guys right now.
According to Gavaskar on Sports Tak, “How many of our current players actually deign to go down and play Ranji Trophy?”
Gavaskar has also consistently criticised players’ workload management. According to him, a national cricket player ought to be ready to participate in every match when called upon. He has frequently maintained that it is inappropriate to skip Ranji Trophy games in the name of workload management, highlighting the fact that doing so simply serves to impede a player’s development and preparedness.
“No, they don’t because of a concept known as workload. The word is workload. They have no desire to play. They have no desire to play. They only wish to participate in the Ranji Trophy when they are not playing well. They don’t want to play otherwise. That’s the solution, then. Perhaps you would like to consider making a pitch that will allow the ball to grip and turn slightly. Then, you should choose men who are participating in domestic cricket. Because they lack the practice against such players, we really don’t want to play men who are playing international cricket’, Gavaskar stated.
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