In the backdrop of India losing the Test series to South Africa 0-2, ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has observed that they are ‘one of the poorest spin-playing nations’.
Speaking on Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin said, ” And in this day and age, we are probably one of the poorest spin-playing nations in the world as a batting unit. There is a reason for this — we’ve talked about it earlier.”
India were defeated by 408 runs in Guwahati, which in turn gave South Africa their first Test series win in India in 25 years. Spinner Simon Harmer took the most wickets, he picked 17 wickets in two Test matches. Keshav Maharaj also took six wickets in the series.
The former spinner pointed out that, ” Our first-class cricket is completely controlled by neutral curators in every venue. The reason for neutral curators is to stop really bad wickets from being prepared. But what that has also done — along with the attempt to help India play fast and seam bowling better — is weaken our spin-batting skills. The intention was good, and that’s why we now play well abroad. But in home conditions, you have to play spin well.”
Ashwin also praised South Africa’s calm and collected approach, noting that they won by sticking to real Test-match discipline. He explained, ” When you talk about playing spin, you don’t start sweeping and reverse sweeping. You build your game around solid defence… They played pure attritional Test cricket: 80 runs a session, high-quality pressure with the ball, good field sets, and long spells for the spinners.”
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