"His career suffered because of these kinds of surfaces" - Harbhajan Singh questions India playing on rank turners with 'Ajinkya Rahane' example
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh questioned Team India for opting to play on rank turners at home over the last few years by pointing to Ajinkya Rahane and how his career suffered playing on such surfaces. After a surprising defeat in the first New Zealand Test on a seam-friendly wicket at Bengaluru, the hosts were granted their wish for a turning track for the second Test in Pune.
However, India's batting came apart with the side scoring 156 and 245 in the two innings, resulting in a 113-run defeat. The loss meant the Asian giants suffered a home Test series defeat for the first time since 2012-13.
In a conversation with the PTI after the second New Zealand Test, Harbhajan was quoted by India Today as saying:
"Look at the trend over the last decade. We are playing mostly on turners with the hope that we will win the toss, score 300, and control the game. But we don't know if we have the batting to wriggle out on turners. Our batters have lost a lot of confidence playing on these tracks. The biggest example is Ajinkya Rahane, a fine player. His career suffered because of these kinds of surfaces."
"If you have had a great record at home for so long and if you lose, obviously there will be chatter. Credit to New Zealand for playing the way they did; these were alien conditions and also not a pitch where wear and tear was natural. It was a tailor-made condition for spinners where the ball was supposed to turn from the first hour," he added.
India's top order has struggled over the past two to three years at home on spin-friendly surfaces, leaving the lower order to bail them out of trouble far too often.
However, their fortunes finally ran out against a well-oiled and disciplined New Zealand unit.
"Bring Varun Chakravarthy, who is a white-ball specialist. He will run through sides" - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh felt the rank turners in India have made accuracy the lone priority over quality among spinners, highlighting the examples of Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel.
Despite playing his first Test in three years, Sundar picked up 11 wickets in the second Test against New Zealand.
"You had Joe Root getting five wickets here some years back. Bring Varun Chakravarthy, who is a white-ball specialist. He will run through sides. If you prepare rank turners, you don't play spinners who can turn the ball on the flattest of decks. All you need are bowlers who are accurate. Washy (Washington Sundar) and Axar (Patel) can do the job, and you won't need the quality of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja," Harbhajan said in the same interaction.
The Pune surface helped New Zealand's Mitchell Santner pick up 13 wickets in the second Test, including back-to-back five-wicket hauls. Yet, before the outing, the left-arm spinner had never picked up more than three wickets in 28 Tests.