Team India had faced a humbling defeat to Australia in the third Test of the series in Indore last week. In a Test that finished within three days, Australia produced an impressive performance as they bowled out the hosts on merely 109, then took an 88-run lead on a significantly tricky surface at the Holkar Stadium before sailing to a 75-run target with nine wickets to spare. With the win, Australia also qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, which will be played between June 7-11 at the Oval.
For India, the problems with tackling spin bowling continued as nine of the side's 10 dismissals in the first innings of the Indore Test came against spinners – the remaining being a run out. Many fans and former cricketers alike have been critical of India batter's abilities to play spinners, and insist that the host side's plans to prepare spin-friendly wickets backfired in the third Test.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, however, believes that batters like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara wouldn't have reached 100 Tests feat if they weren't “good players of spin.”
“I don't think so. People like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli, Rohit Sharma are good players of spin bowling. It they weren't, they won't have played in 100 Tests (Pujara and Kohli have featured in 100+ Tests so far). You have to be very good player of spin and fast bowling to reach that mark. One thing that has changed is that the DRS has played a massive role. When there was no DRS and no LBW on the front foot, a lot of times you had to change your technique as well. People don't talk about that too much,” Gambhir told Sports Today.
{{/usCountry}}“I don't think so. People like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli, Rohit Sharma are good players of spin bowling. It they weren't, they won't have played in 100 Tests (Pujara and Kohli have featured in 100+ Tests so far). You have to be very good player of spin and fast bowling to reach that mark. One thing that has changed is that the DRS has played a massive role. When there was no DRS and no LBW on the front foot, a lot of times you had to change your technique as well. People don't talk about that too much,” Gambhir told Sports Today.
{{/usCountry}}The former opener, however, insisted that Tests need to last more than three days; none of the three Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has reached the fourth day.
“I feel, yes, playing on turning tracks is fine, but I won't appreciate Test matches finishing in 2.5 days. We want to see tight finishes, like the one we saw in the New Zealand vs England Test. (If a Test goes to) 4th or 5th day, it is fine. But 2.5 days is too short,” said Gambhir.