Virat Kohli being bowled by New Zealand's Mitchell Santner on the second day of the second test cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Pune.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Indian team might be good at spin, but it cannot play spin.
Sure, they can’t handle swing - the likes of which was on offer in Bengaluru during the first Test loss - either, but to the so-called nimble-footed savants from the subcontinent, spin was supposed to be bread and butter.
If true, they wouldn’t have given away seven wickets to Mitchell Santner’s left-arm orthodox and two wickets to Glenn Philips’ part-time off-spin on Friday, and risk the chance of losing their first Test series at home since 2012.
Historically, visiting spinners - some rather obscure - have had success on these shores, but for close to 13 years, India avoided coming undone by them by either batting well or bowling better. At the second Test in Pune, they did neither well.
Sure, Washington Sundar picked up 7 for 59 to bowl New Zealand out for 259, but it became evident after India’s innings that they should have done better with the ball too.
The pitch offered in abundance, but India were not greedy enough. New Zealand, on the cusp of what could be a crowning achievement, were.
In due course, they bowled India out for 156 and added 198 for 5 in their second essay to extend the lead to 301 runs with three days left in the game. But, given the two-faced nature of a quickly deteriorating pitch, there is no reason to believe this game is going beyond Saturday.
For that, India have to bat out of their skin to stop New Zealand from winning only their first away Test in five years.
Let’s face it, it doesn’t look like they can, and this isn’t premature criticism, this is an inference based on what they showed up as and with. This side has achieved a lot of things over a lot of years, but spin has been their Kryptonite the last few years, and at this very moment, Santner - the Clark Kent doppelganger - looks like New Zealand’s Superman.
Santner, roped in for this Test match despite averaging a woeful 42.16 in 28 Tests, was brought onto support Ajaz Patel, but much like what transpired with India’s third spinner in Washington, he took over fast by bowling slow.
Having picked up from the Indians and their bowling strategies in the first innings (something which New Zealand’s batting coach Luke Ronchi admitted in the post-day press conference on Thursday), Santner’s pace fluctuated between 75 and 95 kilometres an hour. That contrast would have hardly mattered if he hadn’t found the right length, though.
He wasn’t too concerned about hitting the roughs left behind by the bowlers because they were too close to the crease. Instead, he found a couple of spots on a length (the area which was watered and heavy-rolled a couple of days ago by the curators) and kept plugging away.
From there, the ball either turned viciously or straightened without a sign. This dichotomy left anyone with questionable technique vulnerable. Well, on Friday, that list included nearly everyone in the playing XI.
After Rohit Sharma was dismissed by paceman Tim Southee, Santner and Phillips picked up the remaining nine wickets, and three (Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan) of those dismissals were offerings nor earnings.
Remember when Rahul Dravid wrote a lengthy letter to Kevin Pietersen to help the Englishman overcome his troubles against spin during England’s tour of Bangladesh in 2010? Remember how that letter and the learnings from it helped Pietersen play a vital role in England winning in India in 2012?
Since Dravid wasn’t able to get through to this team when he was the coach, he may need to start writing some letters again.