R Ashwin hit out at the Indian batsmen during the South Africa series, saying they are one of the worst spinners in the world and gave the reason behind it. India were hammered by the Proteas in Guwahati on Wednesday 26 November as they finished 408 run win and whitewash. Over the course of the two matches, South Africa’s spinners, particularly Simon Harmer, have had plenty of success against the hosts.
Harmer finished with 17 wickets while Keshav Maharaj claimed six as the Indian batsmen struggled in both Kolkata and Guwahati. This mirrored India’s performance against the likes of Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel during last year’s series loss to New Zealand. Talking about Ash Ki Baat, the former spinner gave the reason behind India’s recent struggles against spin.
Ashwin said neutral curators control first-class cricket in India at every venue by creating sports wickets. While the former spinner said it helped India perform well in overseas conditions and play the pacers better, it weakened their anti-spin skills.
“And we’re probably one of the poorest batting nations in the world these days as a batting unit. How did that happen overnight? There’s a reason for that – we’ve talked about it before.”
“Our first-class cricket is completely controlled by neutral curators at every venue. The reason for neutral curators is to prevent really bad wickets being taken. But what it has also done – along with trying to help India bowl fast and better – is to weaken our batting skills. The intention was good and that is why we are playing well abroad now. But at home you have to spin well.”
‘SHE PLAYED TRIAL CRICKET’
Ashwin further stated that South Africa played attritional Test cricket to beat India in their own backyard.
“When you talk about playing spin, you don’t start sweeing and reverse-sweeping. You base your game on solid defence. If South Africa can score 80 runs in a session and put a plus-500 on the board to chase in the final innings, they will beat you with well-worn Test cricket – the kind that has to be played in India.”
“Attrition Test cricket. At least New Zealand stayed busy and tried to put pressure on us. South Africa didn’t. They played pure attrition Test cricket: 80 runs, high quality pressure with the ball, good sets on the pitch and long spells for the spinners,” Ashwin said.
The win in Guwahati marked South Africa’s first series triumph in India in 25 years. As for Gautam Gambhir’s side, the loss in the second Test was their biggest in terms of runs margin.
– The end
Published on:
November 27, 2025
