Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has lambasted the Indian team’s approach to preparing pitches for home Tests, citing the recent series loss to New Zealand as an example. He believes that the emphasis on turners has backfired and affected the confidence of Indian batters.

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Harbhajan Singh blames turning pitches for Test series loss

Harbhajan Singh pointed out that the trend of playing on turners has been counter-productive, as Indian batters have struggled to adapt to different conditions. He cited Ajinkya Rahane’s career as an example, stating that the player’s confidence has suffered due to these surfaces.

“If you have had great record at home for so long and if you lose, obviously there will be chatter. Credit to New Zealand for playing the way they did and these were alien conditions and also not a pitch where wear and tear was natural.

“It was a tailor-made condition for spinners where ball was supposed to turn from first hour,” Harbhajan told PTI in an interaction.

A straight shooter, Harbhajan questioned the thought process of the Indian team, which is proving to be counter-productive.

“Look at the trend during last decades. We are playing mostly on turners through the last decade with the hope that we will win the toss, score 300 and control the game.

“But we don’t know if we are at the receiving end, if we have the batting to wriggle out on turners. Our batters have lost a lot of confidence playing on these tracks. The biggest example is Ajinkya Rahane, a fine player. His career suffered because of these kind of surfaces,” Harbhajan was cut-throat in his assessment.

One of the country’s finest off-spinners, he elaborated how batters lose confidence.

“We always get into whataboutery that they (SENA countries) also prepare pitches as per their needs but those aren’t pitches where you can’t even bat. Those pitches go through natural wear and tear over time.

“Here if you don’t know which one will turn and which one will go straight, you are forever fighting doubts whether to attack or defend. Even Virat Kohli has fared well abroad in last few years where the ball comes onto the bat.

“Now you have three bad home Tests on these tracks but selectors know that you are a good player and take you on overseas tour, but by then, not having runs under your belt has started playing havoc with your mindset.

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“You also fail in a couple of overseas Tests, and suddenly, you are out of the team. Is that a good thing?” the ‘Turbanator’ asked.

Harbhajan couldn’t hide his sarcasm when he spoke about the kind of result-oriented pitches that the Indian team management in past few years have gone for.

“If you prepare rank turners, you don’t play spinners who can turn the ball on flattest of decks. All you need is bowlers who are accurate. Washy (Washington Sundar) and Axar (Patel) can do the job, and you won’t need Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s quality.

“You had Joe Root getting five wickets here some years back. Bring Varun Chakravarthy, who is a white-ball specialist. He will run through sides,” Harabhajan said.