The focus may shift to the ODI series, but the Test whitewash remains lingering. Before the Ranchi ODI against South Africa, interim captain KL Rahul was asked about Indian batters’ struggles against spin at home for the last 12 months.
KL Rahul admits spin issues
Rahul didn’t shy away from the inability to negate opposition spinners. He admitted it’s the shortcoming of Indian batters, and each player will have to find ways to improve. Asked about Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism, Rahul stated they might need to ask the Indian legend’s advice on how to tackle the spinners better.
“I can’t give a definitive answer. Yes, we have not been able to play spin that well for a series or two. We know it, we acknowledge it. It’s part of a batter’s job to recognise when we are not playing spin properly. You spoke about Gavaskar sir, speaking on the issue — we can talk to him and understand what we need to do better against spin. We are already trying to find ways to improve. I don’t think it will happen overnight,” Rahul said in Ranchi.
Will seek seniors’ advice
Although India doesn’t play another Test series until August 2026, when they tour Sri Lanka. That challenge won’t be easy. If anything, you can expect the pitches to be even more spin-friendly. Then comes another big Test in 2027, when Australia will tour India. Rahul knows they’ll have to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and won’t hesitate to take the help of seniors.
Virat Kohli had once reached out to Sachin Tendulkar after his horror 2014 tour of England. The same might happen here. For sure, players can ask Rahul Dravid, who was India’s previous head coach and one of the finest players of spin. Dravid had even helped Kevin Pietersen to improve his spin play more than a decade ago.
“I don’t have the answer as to why Indian batters played spin better in the past than they do now. There might be several reasons for that. But we can certainly look at how to improve against spin. Individually, we need to find ways to play it better. In six months, we have a series in Sri Lanka. After that, Australia comes over for a series. We will each try to find technical answers to help us play spin better. We will reach out to our seniors, and we will try to learn from them,” he added.
