Several veteran cricketers have spoken out after India’s humiliating loss to Australia in the third Test of the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They said that the team’s players were below-average against skilled spinners. Nevertheless, former India international Gautam Gambhir disagrees, arguing that cricketers like Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma would not have been as successful if they weren’t superb spin players.
Batters’ failures against spin bowling have been further exacerbated, Gambhir said, in large part because of DRS. Because of the DRS method, batters reportedly have to alter their approach, hence the topic is seldom discussed. Importantly, the pioneers of the game stressed taking the initiative. They often reaped the benefits of doing so when choices were made in their favour.
What did Gautam Gambhir say?
“I don’t think so. People like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli and Rohit Sharma are good players of spin bowling. If they weren’t, they won’t have played in 100 Tests (Pujara and Kohli have featured in 100+ Tests so far). You have to be a very good player of spin and fast bowling to reach that mark. One thing that has changed is that the DRS has played a massive role. When there was no DRS and no LBW on the front foot, a lot of times you had to change your technique as well. People don’t talk about that too much,” Gambhir told Sports Today.
Even yet, Gambhir maintained that the standard time for a Test match is three days and a half hours. The ex-cricketer is frustrated because none of the games in the current series has lasted more than three days. He hopes for lengthier matches and bats on spin-friendly surfaces.
The ICC has slammed the Holkar Cricket Stadium pitch in Indore (the site of the third Test) with three demerit points and a ‘bad’ rating for its condition.
