IND vs NZ 2nd Test | ‘Hard to digest’: Kapil Dev on India's first series loss at home since 2012-13

1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev reckons not playing enough domestic cricket is affecting Virat Kohli’s batting on turning pitches; finds 0-2 loss to New Zealand simply...

Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev believes that India’s batting stars must play more domestic cricket in order to get better when it comes to scoring runs against spin bowling.

Kapil, India’s 1983 World Cup captain, was flabbergasted to see India succumbing to a series loss to the visiting New Zealand team even before the third and final Test scheduled to be played on November 1 in Mumbai.

Kapil Dev. Pic/Getty Images

After losing the Bangalore Test, the Rohit Sharma-led side were defeated inside three days at Pune, where left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner claimed 13 in the Test which the Kiwis won by 113 runs.

Virat Kohli’s struggles have not missed the attention of Kapil, who said: “I made an observation five years back that Virat is not sighting the ball perfectly. It appears that he is not following the line of the ball. In spite of repeated failures he is still playing across the line. Now, this is clear evidence of a lack of match practice. They have to play domestic cricket if they want to improve their skills against spin bowling. They must learn how to score runs with a straight bat like Sunny Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar did. Yashasvi Jaiswal is good, but he must be more consistent, score heavily.”

Also Read: India face tough transition period, limited bowling options may worry Gambhir

Tom Latham & Co hailed

The series loss to New Zealand was India’s first series defeat at home since 2012-13. Kapil cannot comprehend how the loss came about. “We lost both Test matches… unbelievable… very difficult to digest. 

The Indian team is better than the Kiwis, but Tom Latham & Co played better cricket, took more initiative to win.

“We have to take fresh guard. We are missing Hardik Pandya’s all-round skills and while Ravindra Jadeja is a much-improved batter, he is not bowling all that well.

‘Sundar must be praised’

“Washington Sundar must be praised — a high-arm action like S Venkataraghavan, I noticed that on a turning track Washington bowls straight and in the bargain, gets LBW decisions. We have had Erapalli Prasanna and Venkat play together so no harm if [Ravichandran] Ashwin and Washington play together,” he said.

With no intention to take away credit from Santner, Kapil emphasised: “India lost to Santner — very disappointing. My question is, were they trying hard enough? It was a total collapse of the batting department,” he said.

And his thoughts on the third and final Test at Mumbai? “I am not bothered. Yes, it’s a Test match, but have we not lost the series? Even after losing the first Test, we did not take corrective measures,” Kapil signed off.

245
No. of runs scored by Virat Kohli in 10 Test innings this year @ 27.22

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