Indian batters actually can’t play spin, says Haddin

Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Brad Haddin has criticised India’s reliance on playing Tests on turning pitches, stating that Kolkata Test is the second such instance of this backfiring in Gautam Gambhir’s tenure and has exposed that the batting unit doesn’t have players who can play spin bowling well on such surfaces. India’s batting struggles on spin-friendly pitches continued as they crashed to a 30-run defeat to South Africa at Eden Gardens inside three days. The loss came less than a year after India failed to chase 147 against New Zealand in Mumbai, resulting in a historic 0-3 series sweep defeat for the hosts. “They’ve done it twice now under Gambhir. They play their best cricket when, its not about turning wickets but building scoreboard pressure with their runs. They’re taking their world-class batters out of the game. I just think they’re leaving too much to chance. “India play their best cricket when they put a big total on the board, and then they make the opposition claustrophobic with their fields. Their spinners are better than anyone on those surfaces. Their batters actually aren’t that good of players of spin on a surface like that,” Haddin said on the Willow Talk podcast episode on Monday. Haddin, who had been with Gambhir during their playing days for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, further pointed out how things were different under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. “You just have people who can throw the ball and the wicket will do the rest. The strange thing I heard was that Gambhir came out and said we are happy with the surface we are playing on. This cost them against New Zealand as well.”9 @@@@