New Delhi . Former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull believes that it is a misconception that Indian batsmen play spin better than other batsmen. Indian batting flopped badly in the first innings in Bengaluru, due to which they had to pay the loss. At the same time, once again the same scene was seen in the Pune Test.
Doull made this statement after the poor performance of Indian batsmen in the second Test match against New Zealand in Pune.
India collapsed for 156 runs in the first innings. Mitchell Santner bowled the best spell of his career (753) for the Kiwi team. India lost 9 batsmen to spin, including senior players like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
This series saw consistent Indian batting wobbles, raising doubts over India's ability to deal with the spinners. India were all out for 46 runs in the first innings of the first Test in Bengaluru and lost the match by eight wickets.
Doull claimed that gone are the days when Indian batsmen – Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid used to take advantage of spinners on Indian soil. He said that any good spin attack can now challenge the Indian batsmen even on their home ground.
“I think there is a misconception now across the world that these modern Indian players are better at playing spin than anyone else. But that's not the case,” Doull told Geo Cinema during the lunch break on Friday. They are like everyone else around the world. Gone are the days of Ganguly, Laxman and Dravid, and the era before them was also great. I think there were good quality spinners. “He is only as good as the Indian spinners at getting India out on turning tracks against good quality opposition batsmen.”
Earlier, Washington Sundar took seven wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets as New Zealand were all out for 259 runs in the first innings on Thursday. Looking at both the innings played so far, it has become clear that the spinners are getting a lot of help from the Pune pitch.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.