'DRS has played a massive role' - Gambhir makes bold statement on India's struggle against spin bowling

Gautam Gambhir-India (Source: Twitter)

Although India defeated Australia in the first and second Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, their batters did not have a great outing in both matches. In fact, the third Test was a reality check for the Indian batting line-up that crumbled against a spin bowling attack in Indore, resulting in a 9-wicket victory for the visitors. However, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir defended the Indian batters by highlighting the unnoticed reasons for India's poor performance against spin.

Gambhir, who is active on social media with his views and opinions, said that players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are good against spin bowling and otherwise they (Kohli and Pujara) would not have played 100+ Test matches.

“I don’t think so. People like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli, Rohit Sharma are good players of spin bowling. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have played in 100 Tests. You have to be a very good player of spin and fast bowling to reach that mark. One thing that has changed is that the DRS has played a massive role. When there was no DRS and no LBW on the front foot, a lot of times you had to change your technique as well. People don’t talk about that too much,” Gambhir told Sports Today.

'We want to see tight finishes': Gautam Gambhir

The former India opener also spoke about the three-day finish of the India-Australia series. All three Test matches of the 2023 BGT series ended in the first three days. The Indore Test, which ended in just 2.5 days, was rated 'poor' by the Cricket Governing Body as it did not support batters and bowlers equally.

Talking about Test matches finishing before the fourth or fifth day, Gambhir said: “I feel, yes, playing on turning tracks is fine, but I won’t appreciate Test matches finishing in 2.5 days. We want to see tight finishes, like the one we saw in New Zealand vs England Test. (If a Test goes to) 4th or 5th day, it is fine. But 2.5 days is too short."

India will lock horns tomorrow in the fourth and final Test of the series against Australia. A win in Ahmedabad is crucial for Rohit and Co to clinch the series and secure a spot in the World Test Championship final.