After India’s ICC World Test Championship final loss to Australia at The Oval, legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh raised questions over highly spin-friendly pitches in India, and how it affects India’s preparation for big matches, especially in pace-friendly conditions. After their ICC World Test Championship title win against India in the final by 209 runs at The Oval, Australia made history by becoming the first-ever team to clinch all major ICC trophies.
After dominating India over the course of five days Australia secured their maiden World Test Championship 2023 title on Sunday at the Oval, London. India was bundled out at 234 in 63.3 overs while chasing 444, with Mohammad Shami as the last player standing with a score of 13(8)*. Harbhajan said that by finishing Test matches within just three days on spin-friendly Indian pitches, India cannot prepare itself fully for big clashes and they need to work hard for all five days, make it their habit.
‘You cannot give yourself that fake confidence after playing and winning matches on bad pitches where the ball starts spinning from ball one. You will have to develop a habit of working hard for five days. Only then you will find yourself prepared better for these big matches. Fast bowlers do not get to bowl much on these pitches, spinners are used right from the first over. There are a lot of things we should rectify’, said Harbhajan on Star Sports after the match.
In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at home earlier this year, wickets were extremely spin friendly and three out of four Tests ended in three days. Spinners dominated the series heavily, with Ravichandran Ashwin (25 wickets), Ravindra Jadeja (22) and Nathan Lyon (22) being the top wicket-takers.
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