Legendary India captain Kapil Dev has advised Indian players to prioritise domestic cricket amid growing concerns over the young batters’ ability to handle spin. India’s Test team has faced a difficult phase in recent times, suffering home series defeats against New Zealand and South Africa, with opposition spinners exposing their struggles against the turning ball. The team has also entered a major transition phase following the Test retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. The home series loss to South Africa further exposed the young Indian team’s struggles against spin, with the batters failing to counter the Proteas’ spinners.
Kapil believes India’s struggles against spin are partly linked to the lack of domestic cricket played by established players. The former captain feels regular multi-day matches would help the senior players sharpen their skills while also giving younger cricketers an opportunity to learn from them.
“Playing domestic cricket is very important. The reason why Indian teams struggle against spin is because the top players don’t play enough domestic cricket. That’s where the BCCI should put its foot down and make everyone play multi-day matches. The other aspect is that the younger generation will get to learn from the top players,” Kapil said at the launch event of Bengaluru Blasters ahead of the inaugural JITO Premier League.
Kapil also pointed to India’s heavy workload in white-ball cricket as a possible reason behind their struggles against spin in Tests. He stressed that the longest format demands a different approach and believes the team needs to find a way to address the issue.
“In recent times, India has not been the best against spin bowling. They play too many T20s and ODIs. Test matches are a different ball game. I hope they can put their heads together,” he added.
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Kapil tells BCCI to look after fast bowlers’ workload
The legendary skipper also raised concerns about the workload on India’s fast bowlers, particularly with the increasing demands of T20 cricket. He feels players need to understand their physical limits, while the BCCI must carefully monitor how much cricket is being given to fast bowlers to reduce the risk of injuries.
“One should know about one’s own body. There is too much T20 cricket happening, so you have to be careful about the toll it takes on the body. Our body is actually not tuned to being a fast bowler. Our body is more tuned to being a batter. The BCCI should look into how much workload can be given to fast bowlers,” Kapil said here on Tuesday.