Harbhajan Singh has made a big dig at the Indian captain and coaches saying their plan of winning Test matches within three days is hurting the batters.
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has blamed Indian Team management for preparing spin-friendly pitches to finish the Test in two and a half days. Pitches have always hogged the limelight before the start of a Test match in India.
The condition of it, whether hard or loose, how barren there are any rough patches, and most importantly, if it will turn from Day 01. India has been the runner in the WTC 2021-23 cycle after they suffered a defeat against Australia in the finals.
India’s stance in the last few years has been quite clear regarding home tests. They want to win and prove their strengths. Producing tracks assisting spinners from Day 01 has resulted in victories and played a crucial role in India’s still unbeaten run of 17 series at home.
“We’ve started playing on pitches that turn a lot more. We wanted to win and we did win but we wanted to win in two and a half days. I think, if we had produced normal pitches that started to turn from Day 3 and Day 4, we still would have won but the batters would have gotten time to settle in.”
“And we wouldn’t be discussing the problems of our batters against spinners. We dented the confidence of our batters because anybody gets out (cheaply) on those pitches,” said Harbhajan Singh.
India’s fourth highest wicket-taker in Tests said India should trust its bowlers to produce results on normal pitches instead of going for rank turned as their dents the confidence,
“We still have a chance (to rectify this). If we pay on good pitches, I don’t think anyone can beat India. The pacers that India have, the spin attack that there is, they would definitely win you Tests on Day 5 if not on Day 3.”
“But if you play on good pitches, the batters will score runs, and their confidence will only go up when they score runs. So I don’t think our batters have forgotten to play spin but the conditions have been such (in the last few years) that it has become almost impossible,” he added.
India has been at the top of the WTC 2023-25 points table with 6 wins out of the 9 matches and Australia is in the second place with 8 wins in 12 matches.
With India’s home season 2024-25 would begin with taking on Bangladesh in a two-match test series starting on September 19 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
