India suffered a historic home Test series defeat against South Africa, following their earlier loss to New Zealand in 2024. These results ended India's decade-long home dominance and exposed serious concerns about the team's ability to play traditional five-day cricket. Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh strongly criticized the team management's approach, urging them to prioritize long-term player development over short-term victories. He blamed spin-heavy pitches that produce quick finishes for hampering skill development among Indian batters. Harbhajan pointed out that players have become accustomed to matches ending within two or three days, which has affected their temperament and technique. He specifically mentioned declining averages of senior batters like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane. The former spinner requested that India prepare better, balanced pitches to save future generations of cricketers and restore the fundamental qualities needed for Test cricket success.
Call for Better Pitches to Develop Future Talent
Harbhajan Singh urged team management to abandon the strategy of preparing spin-friendly surfaces that have dominated Indian cricket since 2011-12. He requested forgetting the wins achieved on such pitches over the past 10-12 years and instead focus on creating balanced wickets. According to him, good pitches promote essential Test cricket qualities like temperament, discipline, and hard work that have been missing from recent performances. He emphasized that proper five-day matches benefit everyone, including broadcasters and fans, while current lottery-style results harm the sport. Harbhajan highlighted the Guwahati Test where South Africa scored 489 and 260/5 while India collapsed for 201 and 140, demonstrating temperament issues rather than just pitch problems. Marco Jansen's six-wicket haul further proved batting collapses were not solely pitch-related.
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