Indian batting on turning wickets has faced scrutiny recently after the whitewashes endured against New Zealand and South Africa in home red-ball series. The next challenge for the Indian contingent is in Sri Lanka, where the conditions will not be too dissimilar.
The surfaces will turn and grip with dust puffing out as the ball pitches on length. Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta said he was more worried about how well India will adapt in the batting department compared to the bowling department.
“I am not as much concerned about bowling as I am about batting. If we talk about batting, if we look at the South Africa and New Zealand series – we have seen a new batting order in South Africa. If we look at it from there, I will not say it is fear, but it is a concern,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“How will they be able to play in those conditions? Because there will be spinning conditions. There will be turning conditions because their strength is spin bowling. In those conditions, how does India play? How do Indian batters handle it? That is going to be the biggest challenge, according to me,” he said.
“Especially in Sri Lanka, again, Sri Lanka, I mean, it has been very, very difficult in the past and especially in these conditions right now,” he added.
India is placed in fifth position on the World Test Championship table.
“I think it’s going to be interesting when looking at the WTC. I think there are nine test matches left. Five with Australia, two with Sri Lanka, and two with New Zealand, and if I’m not wrong, roughly speaking, I think seven out of nine will have to be won to qualify for the WTC finals. So, that in itself is a difficult task,” Dasgupta said on WTC.
“On top of that, you add Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, New Zealand in New Zealand. These are difficult assignments. On top of that, as it has been, if we look at it, if we count series after series, if we don’t count Afghanistan’s one-off test, then in the last three series at home, we have lost two to New Zealand and South Africa. So, that is one thing, obviously, that’s why you can’t take any series, and opposition at this time and in any condition, lightly at all,” he added.