"We succumb to new spinners" - Aakash Chopra highlights India's major concern

Former Indian batsman turned expert analyst Aakash Chopra feels that Indian batter’s constant struggle against inexperienced spinners is a major concern. While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that the Rahul Dravid-led team management should be doing something about it. He made these comments in light of India’s recent struggle against England spinners Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir in the ongoing 5-match series.

While the Indian team are considered as a dominant force on their home soil, it is often seen that new spinners have troubled the batters. This year it is Hartley and Bashir and last year when Australia had come for the Border-Gavaskar trophy Test series, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy had made life difficult for India’s batting unit.

Aakash Chopra unable to understand why Indian batters give away their wicket to new spinners

Both Kuhnemann and Murphy had no prior experience of playing an international Test match before the India tour. But to everyone’s surprise, the off-spinning duo walked away with a total of 23 wickets combined from the 4 Test matches. Kuhnemann registered 9 wickets while Murphy went away with an impressive 14 scalps. This is what Aakash Chopra spoke about in his latest video.

Chopra used the reference of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, claiming Indian batters never lose their wicket to big spinners but he was unable to understand why they give their wicket away cheaply against newbies.

“It is a problem for sure. Don’t know why we do that. As soon as new spinners come, we get stuck. We didn’t give wickets to Muralitharan and Shane Warne but we succumb to new spinners. In the previous series (against Australia), the main reason was that we were preparing very bad pitches. In this series, the main reason is that our batting has very little experience,” Chopra said via his YT channel.

Just like Kuhnemann and Murphy, England off-spinners Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir too had no experience of playing a Test series before the India tour. While Bashir had to for his chance till the 2nd Test, Hartley rattled the Indian batters in the 1st Test. The left-arm spinner collected 2 wickets in the 2nd innings and then claimed a 7-fer in the 4th innings at Hyderabad.

Since then, Hartley has registered 11 more in Vizag, Rajkot and Ranchi. Shoaib Bashir on the other hand has been handy as well. He racked up a total of 4 wickets combined in the 2nd Vizag Test and claimed his maiden five-for as well in the 4th Test at Ranchi where England lost by 5 wickets. So, it’s pretty evident that Indian batters struggle evidently against new spinners, something Aakash Chopra wants the team to solve going forward.

Dharamshala ready to host the 5th Test

Meanwhile, after claiming the 4th Test by 5 wickets and winning a 17th straight home red-ball series, the Indians will welcome England for the 5th Test in Dharamshala. The conditions of the scenic venue in Himachal Pradesh might as well suit the visitors who will be playing for their pride. But India won’t be looking to slow down as a win could further boost their position in the WTC 2023-25 points table. The 5th Test gets underway from March 7 onwards.