Head coach Gautam Gambhir, expectedly, was his fiery self when he delivered a short speech in Colombo as the Indian team began its preparation for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. The numbers of the two teams over the last decade suggest India should get their bid to qualify for next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final off to a good start over the next three weeks. Yet, there’s unmistakable unease edginess in the camp.The unease essentially stems from the remarkable depreciation in the performances in spin-friendly conditions. That Indian team has carried a host of spinners as net bowlers again indicates that the team management is expecting outright spinning conditions in the two Tests.The abject surrender at home against New Zealand and South Africa in Gambhir’s tenure has ensured this series has generated more interest than it did in the last decade when India enjoyed overwhelming dominance over Sri Lanka. This is a banana peel series and India could trip on the spin threat.It’s ironic to think to that India’s Test cricket fed off spin and the team became a powerhouse when spin became a major force in a Test match. India’s batting against spin served as tutorials for the rest of the world. Spinners, across generations, largely carried the burden of turning fortunes. It all now seems to be disappearing like poof of dust.India’s batting has largely been crumbling against trying spin bowling—both at home and overseas for more than half a decade. The raging turners at home saw Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s careers come to a screeching end before it eventually accounted for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. It was Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja‘s class that shored up India against the touring teams. If one closely analyses India’s defeats at home, it will be difficult to go past the fact that Indian spinners have been consistently out-bowled.Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik feels this series will truly signal the passing of the spin baton for Indian cricket. Kuldeep Yadav, the forever man waiting in the wings, will be in the face of the action. “It will be an important series for Kuldeep. Everyone expected that the baton would pass smoothly once Ashwin left. It hasn’t quite happened yet. Jadeja is in the fag end of his career. So, it will be exciting to see how Kuldeep and Manav Suthar, who has been seen as the one to carry India’s spin bowling forward, go about it,” Kartik told TOI.Interestingly, when India played on pitches that weren’t exactly square turners last home season, the Indian spinners lacked the incisiveness that made them a feared breed in international cricket.“For me, it’s important that Kuldeep is fresh. Because a lot of his bowling depends on his action because a lot goes into it. If he is fresh then, he will have the momentum going towards the batter,” Kartik opined while adding that Suthar will hold the key. “Suthar is like a breath of fresh air. Even against Afghanistan, he looked so good even with Kuldeep and Washington bowling from the other end,” he said.The most important thing that the Indian spinners need to be careful about is not getting carried seeing turning pitches. “What Mitch Santner and Simon Harmer did well in India was they bowled at the right pace and never left their lengths. Even if they went for an odd boundary. Indian spinners couldn’t do it in those two series at home. They have to give the batter a false sense of confidence,” Kartik warned
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Fighting anxiety
Kartik also warned against anxiety in such conditions. For Suthar, it will be important to gain control over the Kookaburra ball. “Suthar has to ensure that he doesn’t get anxious. The good thing is that he recently bowled with the Kookaburra ball which has a flatter seam in Sri Lanka for India ‘A’. He will need to rein himself in at times,” he said.For Kuldeep, the team management under Gambhir has shown little faith in him for his batting capabilities which gave Washington Sundar the edge over him. “It will be completely up to him to find a way to balance it between his batting and bowling. He is a capable Test batter. He had shown it against England at home,” Kartik claimed.It will be a more challenging tour mentally than one presumed. A slip up here and Indian cricket will need a lot of work to get up on its feet again.
