Veteran bowler Harbhajan Singh suggested that the Indian spinners failed to hit the right length which was the reason they failed to replicate what their Australian counterpart did on Day 1 of Indore Test in Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia spin troika - Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Kuhnemann exploited the surface at Holkar Cricket Stadium very well as nine Indian batters became their victim while Mohammed Siraj was run out.
For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the lone wicket-taker as he claimed all four wickets while other spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel got assistance from the surface but they failed to get any wickets.
Harbhajan suggested that the Indian spinners pitched it too full at the start of innings which restrict them to get more spin from the surface.
“The spinners didn’t find their length at the start. They bowled too full and the batting becomes easy in such a case because the ball does not spin that much. When the ball is extremely close to the bat or pad, it doesn’t get a chance either to bounce or spin," Harbhajan told Star Sports.
The veteran spinner pointed out what went wrong for India which allowed opener Usman Khawaja to get set as he scored 60 runs and looked cut above the rest on Day 1 in batting department.
“As a spinner, you shouldn’t anticipate that they will play the sweep and so you should bowl full. Until they do that (play the sweep), you have to bowl at the good length. The good-length spot remains a good-length spot whether you are playing in Australia or India. Khawaja also got set because of that," he added.
The Turbanator asserted that Jadeja managed to get wickets in the final session when he switched his length which allowed him to get more turn. Jadeja managed to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne, Khawaja and Steve Smith after Tea to pull India back into the game.
“As soon as Ravindra Jadeja pulled his length back after Tea, his bowling style changed completely. He got three wickets later, the reason for that was that he pulled his length back."
“You need to bowl a fuller length when there is absolutely no pace. This wicket has the pace. If you bowl the right line and length on this pitch, which is the good length - where the Indian spinners bowled less, instead of four, seven would have been out today," Harbhajan said.
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