IND vs SA: "Western teams are better than India now"- Ravi Ashwin mocks Shubman Gill & Co after Kolkata embarrassment

Ravi Ashwin comments came after India lost to South Africa in the first test in Kolkata, unable to counter their spinners.

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has announced that Indian batters are no longer the best players of spin and that the visiting teams from the SENA countries have become more adept at playing on tracks aiding spin than the home batters.

This came after India suffered a humiliating 30-run defeat to South Africa in the first test in Kolkata. India succumbed to 93 runs in chase of 123 runs as Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj spun a web around Indian batters on day three of the test.

Ravi Ashwin stated that had previous era batters like Sachin Tendulkar, Amol Mazumdar, and current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Mithun Manhas had played on this track, then the match would’ve ended on day four and India would’ve won the game.

“I am gonna stick my neck out and say in another game in an era where spin bowling was combated very well. I will take the names Amol Muzumdar and Mithun Manhas, who is the BCCI President, and I won’t take all the names, but Sachin Tendulkar in his prime, the God of Cricket.

If these guys had played on the same wicket against spin, this game would have gone to four days. In a total of 16 batters, only three to four players have defended well. If you want to play on turning tracks, then your game against spin has to be good; otherwise, don’t play on such pitches as simple,” Ravi Ashwin was quoted by ANI.

India captain Shubman Gill couldn’t bat much in the test after suffering a neck sprain, and only Washington Sundar with 31 and Axar Patel with 26 were able to counter the Proteas spinners.

We are no longer the best players of spin: Ravi Ashwin announces

India’s home batting average against spinners was 53.3 between 2016 and 2019. However, the average has decreased to 33.8 with a batting strike rate of 60 since 2020. The effect of the dropping average is directly related to India’s waning domestic dominance.

According to Ravi Ashwin, it all boils down to India’s preparation against spin. In contrast to their approach to spin, the 39-year-old feels that India have become much better players to play on fast bowling tracks because they view it as a challenge.

“We are the best players of spin going around in the world at this point in time. Most Western teams are better than India now because they come to India, they practice it a lot more, but we don’t practice enough of it. But we are superior players of fast bowling in many other venues right now because we consider that as a challenge, but not this. That is the difference,” Ravi Ashwin added.

South Africa notched a test win in India for the first time since 2010. They’ll have a chance to win their first test series in India since 2000, when the second and final test begins in Guwahati on November 22.

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