Not 100 percent, make that 200 percent: Gautam Gambhir

Over the years, several batters have mastered the art of playing spin. Especially in India, some batters have not only survived the heavy spinning balls but have gone on to miraculously pull back the match in their favour. Interestingly enough, only a few non Indians could muster facing top class spin bowlers and put up a stellar batting display. In the same vein, often team India has been credited for being good players of spin. Though, in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Test series, the Indian top order has remained in question while Australian team has found some answers to their batting woes against spinners from the third Test.

Now, speaking of team India, barring Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty knock of 59 off 142 deliveries and skipper Rohit Sharma's sensible yet dominating innings, rest of the top order has failed to score. In a key ploy, Australia have even tried to use just spin bowlers against Kohli and not pace bowlers. Post the second Test, the rank turners have seemed to backfired for the hosts as Australia made an impressive comeback in the third Test, where they first took a significant lead by bundling India out for just 109 runs and then chased down the target of 76 runs comfortably.

Meanwhile, several experts have emphasized on domestic cricket experience to find form for any batter which helps in regaining lost form and lack of backing own gameplan. Moreover, it gives time to fix any technique related issues if there is any. In the same vein, former India opener Gautam Gambhir chimed in with his advice for team India which could have helped them addressing their spin woes in the ongoing Test series.

As per Gambhir, had Indian batters played some Ranji Trophy matches, they would have largely benefitted from the experience to take on Australia in the ongoing Test series. He pointed out that only net sessions and camping cannot help to prepare for a match. Having some match experience helps a great deal.

It doesn't matter if you conduct 20-day camps or bat in the nets: Gambhir

When Gautam Gambhir was questioned whether Indian players should have played in some Ranji Trophy matches, he opined that it should be stressed on to gain match experience and other aspects around it.

“Not 100 percent, make that 200 percent. The Indian batters should have played a few Ranji Trophy matches ahead of the Test series against Australia. However, they shouldn't have played those matches just to prepare. It doesn't matter if you conduct 20-day camps or bat in the nets,” Gambhir said while speaking with Sports Tak.

Notably, the opener himself played for the Delhi team and captained the side. He highlighted the lack of match practice even for the Australian team as they had refused to play a practice match after arriving in India. Consequently, India hammered them in the first two Tests of the series.

“Australia struggled in the first two matches because of their mindset of not playing practice matches. This is a negative mindset. The same goes for the Indian batters. And I am talking about the batters, the fast bowlers need rest and they can take a break. But the batters should go play in Ranji Trophy, make centuries and double centuries. It is very important to play red-ball cricket before an important series,” he concluded.

Speaking of the ongoing Test series, India have managed to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy after winning the first two Tests. Interestingly, the star spin all-rounder Axar Patel has been the second-highest scorer for team India after the third Test, coming in at number 8. Post the second Test, Rohit Sharma led the runs tally for India with 185 runs with an emphatic average of 92.50 in the four innings he played while Axar proved to be the second best. Along with it the lower order contributions immensely helped India to put up a fightback after the failure of other top order batters with valuable contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

At this moment, Australia are in a commanding position in the fourth Test, courtesy of a brilliant ton from Usman Khawaja on Day 1 of the Ahmedabad Test. It will be interesting to see how the first hour will pan out for Indian bowlers and Australian batters alike.

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