Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar is not willing to accept that the batters failed to counter New Zealand’s spinners in the second Test in Pune.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner took 13 wickets for 157 runs as India went down 0-2 in the three-match series leading to their first home defeat in 12 years.
Nayar deemed it “very harsh” to say that the team has forgotten how to handle spin bowling.
“Well, I think firstly that’s a bit of a harsh statement for anyone. I think credit goes to the New Zealand bowlers as they exploited the conditions well and they were very consistent,” Nayar said on Wednesday ahead of the third Test in Mumbai, from Friday.
“I feel that when we talk about playing aggressive cricket, when you talk about having aggressive intent, there are going to be times when it may not work out for you.
“And I think Gauti (head coach Gautam Gambhir) has said this before, at times when you get games like Bangladesh, where we go in and get the fastest 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, there are going to be days when it doesn’t look as good and, you know, fruitful.
“But I think sometimes it’s about sticking to the process and the belief systems when you’re trying to achieve something. I’ve always believed as a team or as an individual, there’s always going to be a time when you take a certain dip because you’re trying to play cricket differently and you’re trying to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
“Sometimes the results don’t go your way. But I always believe if you’re patient enough and when that upward curve hits the team and hits an individual, then your purple patch lasts for a really long time,” said Nayar.
“So, we are hoping that the transition that we’re trying to have in terms of the mindset and the approach of the players will end soon. Once we start to hit the upward curve, it will be a long period.”
New Zealand spinnerstargeted the stumps and the Indians failed to read theball properly.
“You need to understand when certain balls are turning, certain balls are going straight, it tends to play with your mind,” the assistant coach said.
“So, at that point, it’s really important for a batter to try and understand how the ball is coming out of the hand, which balls are undercutting, which balls are overspinning. I think that’s where you need to focus a little harder.
“That’s the cricketing, technical side of it. But when that tends to happen, a lot of times it’s not so much about the batter who’s playing it, but it’s about the atmosphere outside because sometimes it can be intimidating when the ball is turning...
“But I think, overall, everyone’s equipped (to deal) with that. You’ve gone through that in your career... like I said, sometimes the conditions and the position you are in, the form that you are in, can get the better of you. But the exact science to it is focusing more on the release points. That’s it,” Nayar said.
