Boria Majumdar
A look at India’s bowling attack tells you exactly where this column is headed. You have Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best fast bowler in the world. Mohammed Siraj has shown time and again that he can win you games on good decks. Kuldeep Yadav is a match-winner, and so is Ravindra Jadeja. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are no less capable, making this a well-rounded attack.
Yet, you opt for pitches that spin from day one — rank turners where the ball grips from the very first session. Such surfaces bring the opposition’s spinners into play, as we’ve already seen with Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel last season. Now, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj have wreaked similar havoc.
This raises the question: why do we choose such wickets? Are we insecure about our bowling attack? Are we not confident in their ability to win us games despite their success around the world? Do we give our bowlers enough credit and, if so, what explains the decision to prepare pitches like these?
It’s not as though India need them to win. England and Bazball were convincingly beaten in 2024, on normal Indian pitches where there was something for everyone – batters, pacers and spinners. On four occasions in nine innings, India crossed 400, and there was another total of 396. It’s what you would expect from a traditional Indian pitches.
Against West Indies, India enforced the follow-on, and Shubman Gill mentioned the day before the South Africa match that he regrets that decision. Does this mean the team was scarred by that experience? Did they feel they couldn’t rely on the bowling attack to bowl South Africa out on a good deck? Is that why they wanted a surface like this?
Going forward, one thing is clear: India shouldn’t play on such surfaces. India need to back their bowlers and keep faith. These men have won India games across the world and will do the same in home conditions — but only if you trust them to do so. On pitches where the match becomes a lottery after a point, bowling skill ceases to matter and the surface takes over.
The current batting line-up doesn’t have the technique to grind through such conditions, and these kinds of wickets are becoming counterproductive. It goes without saying that the batters’ collective confidence will take a battering too after every such outing.
India can beat South Africa and level the series in Guwahati. But to do that, they need to believe they can. They cannot be mentally scarred, play defensively, and once again push for an underprepared deck. The next few days will reveal how strong this team is mentally. Can they take the blame and turn things around, or will they repeat the same mistake?
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