KOLKATA: On Sunday, India suffered a fourth consecutive Test defeat to the SENA country at home, all mostly on the spin of wickets. Reason for concern, sure. Either the wickets do not suit India, or the technique of playing on them is lacking. Despite playing with four spinners, the relatively unknown Simon Harmer dazzled.And despite the presence of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, Temba Bavuma, who has much less exposure in the spin front, produced a masterful batting performance.
‘When you don’t play well, this is what happens’: Gautam Gambhir reacts to first Test defeat, highlights what India lacked
Was the Eden Gardens pitch ideal for India? Yes, it was, India head coach Gautam Gambhir said with great conviction. “This is exactly the pitch we were looking at. This is exactly the pitch we wanted and the curator was very, very helpful,” he said. The repeated emphasis on “exactly what we want” was not lost.So it’s the latter. Do the Indian batsmen lack the technique to play such wickets? Gambhir was not so emphatic in judging the batting.“I think more than skill it’s about handling and absorbing pressure. International cricket is about pressure,” he said. “Rather than thinking about the pressure, you have to start accepting the pressure and that’s something that on wickets like these or when we’re playing in Indian conditions, when we’re chasing in the fourth innings, we have to improve. Obviously, the skills are there, that’s why they’re here. They’ve done well in domestic cricket, wherever you play. But I think international cricket is more important. You can improve in handling pressure, I think you’ll be fine.”Of course, there were experiments, such as playing with four spinners. The kind of wicket here may have called for it, but then Eden will always provide some help to the pacers, at least early in the morning. Pitchers haven’t been that much of a problem, except perhaps for the first practice on Sunday, when they should have wrapped things up early. Not starting Jasprit Bumrah could have hurt India as Temba Bavuma in particular looked quite comfortable against the spin. “We felt that having two left-arm spinners against them on this wicket can be useful,” Gambhir explained, saying it was the right choice from Pant.It will also be debated whether Washington Sundar was the right man for the number 3 spot. That is a specialist position and one can doubt whether Sundar is ready for it against a top team. Perhaps the second Test in Guwahati will answer that.
