New Delhi [India], November 26 : Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh expressed his frustration following India's second series loss in back-to-back years at home to South Africa, saying that to save the "future generations of Indian cricket", the team management should opt for better surfaces at home and forget about how spin-friendly pitches aided their domination at home for 12 years, which was ended by New Zealand last year by a whitewash.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan said that the current crop of Indian cricketers does not know how to play Test cricket for five days, given how used they are to wickets that guarantee a two or three-day finish almost every match. He also pointed out that such pitches led to a decline in the batting averages of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane, and to their eventual phasing out/retirement from the Indian team.
"We do not know how to play matches for five years. We have got so used to playing so many matches on wickets where matches last for two-three days. After 2011-12, there are so many of such matches and very few go to the fifth day. Such pitches were not a norm back in the day. Nowadays, it has reduced averages of our batters like Virat Kohli, Pujara, Rahane to 35-40 from 50. You cannot play slowly or fast on these pitches. There is nothing left on these pitches for the batters. Our old greats were greats because they knew how to play five days of Test match cricket."
"For the betterment of Indian cricket, I think they should forget what has happened in the last 10 to 12 years, what pitches they have played on. Leave those wins behind. They look good in records, fine, but start playing on better wickets to save the future generation of Indian cricket," he added.
Harbhajan also said that Test cricket requires "effort, hard work, discipline" which has been missing for quite some time due to the pitches India is playing on.
"The kind of temperament needed to play Test cricket requires effort, hard work, discipline, and I feel that for many years this has been missing. Because matches get over in two-and-a-half or three days, everyone goes home, the broadcaster suffers separately, people who bought tickets suffer separately," he said.
"But what happens on a good wicket? A good wicket makes the game last five days. And then you find out who the real winner is. This lottery type situation, earlier New Zealand got lucky, now South Africa got lucky in the first match, because the pitch was such that no one even knew what was going to happen," he added.
Harbhajan was also critical of India's poor performances across both innings in Guwahati on what looked like a good wicket to bat on, and took the Test match to the fifth day.
"Now, coming to the second match. South Africa won the toss on this pitch and made 489. You might say the pitch is good on the first day, fine. But even in the second innings, they scored 260 runs and lost only five wickets. And how many did you make in the first innings? 201," he said.
"Fine, the team got all out, maybe the surface had a little bit of something happening, some spin, but you did not get out to spin. Who took six wickets? Jansen did, a fast bowler. And then in the second innings, Team India collapsed for 140. And look, they made 260 there and you made only 140. So this is not just the fault of the pitch. I feel the biggest fault is your temperament," he added.
After a sluggish start on day one with 247/6 on the board, a maiden Test ton from all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy (109) and a hard-hitting knock from Marco Jansen (93 in 91 balls, with six fours and seven sixes) made crucial lower-order contributions to propel the Proteas to 489 in the first innings. Kuldeep Yadav (4/115) was the top bowler for India.
Jansen continued his magic with the ball, snapping figures of 6/48, as the hosts were bundled out for merely 201. A half-century from Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 in 97 balls, with six fours and a six) and Washington Sundar (48 in 92 balls, with two fours and a six) offered notable resistance. India did have a fine start with a 65-run opening stand, but slipped to 122/7, with a 72-run stand between Sundar and Kuldeep (19 in 134 balls, with three fours) pushing India to the 200-run mark.
South Africa chose not to enforce the follow-on, instead extending their advantage to past 500, with Tristan Stubbs (94 in 180 balls, with nine fours and a six) leading the way in their third innings total of 260/5 before the declaration. Once again, it was a spinner shining, with Jadeja taking a four-fer. But India were set a massive 549 runs to chase.
Simon Harmer, South Africa's Player of the Match in Kolkata, was at his very best in the second innings as well. Adding to his 3/64 in the first innings, Harmer (6/37) ran through India's batting line-up on the morning of the final day.
While Sai Sudarshan (14 in 139 balls, with a four) and Ravindra Jadeja (54 in 87 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) mounted resistance, India's fight broke in the second session as South Africa's continued strikes meant that they secured a massive 408-run win in Guwahati, bundling out India for 140 runs.
Another positive display for the visitors came from Aiden Markram, who stood tall in the field with a couple of stunning catches.
Harmer secured the 'Player of the Series' awards with 17 wickets in both Tests, including two four-fers and a six-fer. Jansen took home the 'Player of the Match' award with an all-round performance, scoring a brilliant 93 and taking seven wickets.