India’s dominance in home Tests has started to slip over the past year, raising serious questions about their approach to pitch preparation. What once felt like an almost impenetrable fortress is now beginning to show cracks, with visiting teams finding ways to challenge and even defeat India on surfaces designed to take turn from the opening day. After India’s 30-run defeat to South Africa at Eden Gardens, Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy has openly questioned why India continue to prepare sharply turning wickets that even their own batters are failing to handle. Speaking on the Willow Talk Cricket podcast, Healy said she is baffled by India’s strategy. She pointed out that facing spin has become a challenge worldwide, regardless of where batters are raised, and suggested that India are only making things tougher for themselves. According to her, India suffered a similar fate against New Zealand last year under comparable conditions. She believes flatter pitches would help India avoid repeat collapses.
“I just don’t know what they’re doing to themselves. Batting against spin is not an easy thing around the world at the moment, even if you grow up on those wickets. They keep giving themselves turning wickets, thinking it’s going to help them, and it hasn’t. New Zealand beat them at home doing that. So, build yourself some flat wickets and let them go,” Healy said. Her comments come while head coach Gautam Gambhir continues to defend the Kolkata surface, saying it matched exactly what he had requested. Gambhir has repeatedly stressed that India’s batters need to show better technique and patience against spin. But Healy feels the players themselves are not enjoying such conditions. She also believes India’s spinners have greater impact on pitches that offer moderate assistance, allowing them to attack the stumps rather than rely on excessive turn. “I think their spinners are actually more effective on wickets that don’t do as much and their batters enjoy that as well. If that’s what they asked for I don’t understand it because it actually brings the opposition back into the attack. When you think about Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, they were effective attacking the stumps and when the ball turns too much it goes out of their wheelhouse a little bit. They’re losing Test matches at home which is a really bizarre thing for India to do. They’re going to have to look at it and think about better wickets,” she added. Since Gambhir’s arrival, India have dropped four of their six home Tests, with their only series win coming against a struggling West Indies side. With the second Test against South Africa beginning on November 22 in Guwahati, India will be desperate to prevent their first home series loss to the Proteas since 2000.
