India suffered a historic home Test series defeat against South Africa in 2025, following an earlier loss to New Zealand in 2024 that ended their decade-long home dominance. Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh strongly criticised the team's approach, attributing the decline to over-reliance on spin-friendly pitches that produce short matches. He argued that Indian batters have lost the temperament and skills needed for traditional five-day Test cricket. Harbhajan pointed out that such surfaces have harmed the averages of top players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane. He urged the team management to abandon the strategy of preparing quick-finish wickets and instead focus on balanced pitches that develop proper Test cricket qualities. Highlighting India's poor batting performances in Guwahati despite decent pitch conditions, Harbhajan emphasised that temperament, discipline, and hard work are missing from the current squad, and only good wickets can restore these essential Test cricket virtues.
Harbhajan Urges Focus on Long-Term Development Over Home Wins
Harbhajan Singh expressed deep concern about India's inability to play traditional five-day Test cricket. He stated that matches ending in two or three days have become too common since 2011-12, preventing batters from developing proper skills. He noted that such pitches have reduced the averages of stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Pujara, and Rahane from 50 to 35-40. Harbhajan requested the team management to forget the last 10-12 years of spin-friendly victories and prepare better, balanced wickets. He emphasised that qualities like temperament, effort, discipline, and hard work are missing due to short matches. Pointing to the Guwahati Test, he highlighted that South Africa scored 489 and 260/5, while India collapsed for 201 and 140, showing the fault lies in temperament, not just pitch conditions.
Source: Link