'Even Indians don't play spin that well any more': Former India opener on hosts' woes against spin bowling
While India ended up losing the first T20 against New Zealand on a spinning track in Ranchi and they could finish a chase of 100 runs only off the second last ball of the match in the second match in Lucknow.
India's ongoing T20 series against New Zealand has been unique in the way that the pitches in both matches thus far have not featured batter-friendly conditions. In fact, both surfaces in Ranchi and even more so in Lucknow were suited specifically for spin bowling, so much that the second T20I ended up breaking the record for most overs of spin bowled in a T20 international.
India were limited to a score of 155/9 chasing a score of 177 in the first T20I. New Zealand themselves found the going difficult while spinners were bowling, with their main push coming with Daryl Mitchell helping them smash 27 runs off the last over bowled by fast bowler Arshdeep Singh. In the second T20I New Zealand could only score 99/8 but it turned out to be a tough total to chase on the surface with the Kiwis managing to take the match down to the last over.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer feels that batters nowadays, including Indians who are traditionally recognised as good players of spin, have changed their attitude towards dealing with difficult spells and hence cannot play spinners as well as they could during his time. “Batters usually find their way out nowadays by hitting the bowlers out of the attack. It is not like how it used to be in our time where you are told to play out a spell. Even in seaming conditions, the batters go out and try to get the bowlers out of the attack by being more aggressive. We were told to play out that spell but T20 doesn't allow you to do that,” Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo.
Jaffer said that there has been a focus on developing fast bowlers in India in recent years which has reduced quality spin bowling in the domestic circuit. “I am pretty convinced that even the Indian batters nowadays don't play spin as well as players in my time used to. That is a concern and it is just the upbringing. The focus is more on fast bowling, those that bowl 140-145kph and you don't get to play real quality spin even in the first class circuit,” he said.
“That is probably the reason bowlers don't bowl the way they used to in the 1990s and the 2000s. That flight and guile are missing because the batters are braver, they don't hitting sixes even when there is a long-off and long-on, T20s have made them braver. That is probably the reason why batters don't tackle spinners as well,” Jaffer concluded.