(Image source from: Hungamaexpress.com)

The present-day Indian batsmen appear to be more comfortable facing high-speed bowling rather than spin. The recent Test match in Kolkata against South Africa revealed India's ongoing issues with spin bowling once again, causing the team management led by Gautam Gambhir to regret their choice for a spinning pitch. Witnessing the struggles of the Indian batsmen, Ravichandran Ashwin readily pointed out that players from certain Western nations are currently better at handling spin than Indians. The famous Sunil Gavaskar has explained the reasons for this situation. "Right now, we are not the top spin players in the world. Many Western teams outperform India at this moment because they visit India more frequently and prepare extensively for it, while we do not get enough practice. However, we excel at fast bowling on many other grounds as we view that as a challenge, unlike spin bowling. That is what sets us apart," Ashwin noted.

Gavaskar, who repeatedly encourages a return to local cricket, openly stated that Indian players tend to avoid participating in the Ranji Trophy, even during their downtime. Therefore, expecting them to perform well on spinning pitches, which are also present in local cricket, seems unreasonable. "Many of our players do not engage in domestic cricket. If they played domestic cricket, they would encounter such pitches, right? Because at the domestic level, teams aim to earn points for advancing to the Ranji Trophy knockouts, which means there will be pitches where the ball can grip and spin slightly," said the legendary cricketer to Sports Tak. "But currently, none of our players are participating. How many of them are willing to play in the Ranji Trophy?"

Gavaskar has also frequently criticized the idea of 'workload management' for players. He believes a player should be prepared to take part in every match for their country, regardless of when the opportunity arises. He does not support players skipping Ranji Trophy matches due to workload management. "No, they do not play because of this term called workload. Workload is the key issue. They are unwilling to play. They only want to participate in the Ranji Trophy if they’re out of form. Otherwise, they are not interested. So that explains it. If you're considering creating pitches that will grip and spin a little, you should select players who are currently playing domestic cricket. We shouldn’t choose players who are focused on international cricket because they lack that kind of practice," he added.