Yuvraj Singh explains why India are facing home whitewashes in Test cricket

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh has spoken on India's recent form in Test cricket, suffering significant home series losses to South Africa and New Zealand.

The Kiwis whitewashed India 3-0 in late 2024, with Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel as the backbones of those victories, while South Africa in 2025 whitewashed India 2-0, on the back of Simon Harmer picking up key wickets, ably backed up by Keshav Maharaj.

The ex-India all-rounder believes that the players need to play more domestic cricket, as the team fails to combat spin bowling after the retirements of senior players. New Zealand won on the back of Santner and Patel producing memorable spells on pitches where Indian spinners lacked the intent to get breakthroughs.

“A few of our senior players retired and in India, for tackling spin and winning Tests, you have to play more domestic cricket. We are not getting out to spinners who are absolutely world class. They are not in the same league as Shane Warne, Muralidharan, Harbhajan, Ashwin or Anil bhai [Kumble]. We need to improve our game against spin and that will happen only when we play more domestic games," Yuvraj told Sports Tak.

The legendary cricketer further stated that Test cricket is the ultimate honour, despite the lucrative money and fame offered to the cricketers taking part in the Indian Premier League.

"Test cricket is a matter of honour. It has now become a matter of honour versus money. I keep telling the boys, that the IPL needs you, but you need the India badge. There are 10 teams in the IPL, they need good players. But you want to play for India, if you are not playing for the country, are you ok with that? Some players are. I always say that playing Tests or ODIs is a matter of honour, ‘I want to play Test cricket no matter what’. Because that is the biggest test," Yuvraj emphasised.

England series a 'big win' in Yuvraj's eyes

Prior to the South Africa series, India went to England for a five-match series in June. Shubman Gill, in his first assignment as captain, led India to a 2-2 draw while having a prolific series with the bat. This was India's first series since the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Yuvraj spoke of how that was a big achievement for this team, but it does not allow room for home losses as significant as the ones against South Africa and New Zealand. He further emphasised the necessity for Indian cricketers to play more domestic cricket, to understand issues that persist in the team.

"For me that [drawn series 2-2 against England in August 2025] was a big win for India. It was such a young team and they drew 2-2 there. That draw that they managed in the fourth Test, you need character for that. So give it some time. But that also doesn’t mean you lose this badly in India."

"Losing three Tests in a row, and then two in a row. If it was 2-1 or 3-2 losses, you can understand, but not this badly. That means there is a major issue somewhere and the guys have to think more about domestic cricket, playing more domestic cricket and giving more time to Test cricket,” he concluded.