There's A Decline In Standards While Playing Quality Spin On Slow Pitches - VVS Laxman Highlights Concerns Regarding Young Indian Batsmen After Sri Lanka Tour

Former India batsman VVS Laxman expressed his concerns with regards to a “marked decline in standards” of young Indian batsmen tackling spin bowling on slow and turning tracks. This comes in after observing a number of Indian batters struggle against Sri Lanka spinners on the spin-friendly surface at the R.Premadasa Stadium.

In the second and the third T20I, both of which India lost, the visitors posted totals of 132/5 and 81/8, although the team was weakened due to the unavailability of several batsmen because of covid imposed quarantine.

VVS Laxman pointed out that the young batsmen who played in the last couple of T20Is have spend a lot of their T20 careers batting on flatter pitches and hitting against the pacers, hence they succumbed to the Sri Lankan spinners.

“What this tour has done is highlighted how much work lies ahead of India’s young batsmen. Among the areas of concern are the inability to convert starts to big scores, and a marked decline in standards while playing quality spin on slow pitches,” VVS Laxman wrote in his column for Times Of India. 

“If anything, the latter has been a problem for a while now. Young batsmen focus so much on power-hitting and playing pace that tackling spin has gone out of fashion. To arrest this disturbing trend, it is incumbent upon coaches at the NCA and those with state teams to impress upon their wards the ingredients required to maneuver the ball by bringing soft hands into play, among other things,” he added.

The one who caught my eye was Rahul Chahar: VVS Laxman

The 46-year-old was mightily impressed by young leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who picked 7 wickets in the three games he played on the tour. Rahul has been brilliant for the Mumbai Indians as well for the last couple of seasons, and is making a strong claim for a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad.

“Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy had decent outings but the one who caught my eye was Rahul Chahar. The leggie was aggressive, attacking and penetrative, traits that should certainly bolster his chances for the T20 World Cup later in the year,” VVS Laxman further wrote.

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