"Let's admit we do not play spin well" - Aakash Chopra on India's 0-3 loss in IND vs NZ 2024 Test series

Aakash Chopra has said that Team India should acknowledge they no longer play spin well. He pointed out that Rohit Sharma and company might be better than other teams against spin on flat pitches but not on turning surfaces.

India suffered a 25-run defeat in the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai on Sunday, November 3. The hosts lost the series 0-3 after having already suffered defeats in the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune respectively.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator noted that India must acknowledge their inability to play spin.

"It seems like we should admit that we cannot play spin, let's be very, very honest. Let's not beat around the bush that we can play. Let's admit we do not play spin well. We can play on flat pitches, there is no doubt about that, but everyone can play on flat pitches. The only thing is that we play better than other teams on flat pitches," he said (1:35).

Chopra added that the Indian batters are found wanting if the pitches are slightly spin-friendly.

"We also bowl better than the other teams because we win in quality vs quality. Since the opposition team's spin is slightly weak, we destroy them on flat pitches, which we did against England. We do that job very easily but that's not the case if it is a slightly turning pitch, like in Pune. There was slightly more help at Wankhede but even Mitchell Santner wasn't there here," he observed.

India didn't reach the 300-run mark in their four innings in Pune and Mumbai, with a 263-run total in their first innings at the Wankhede Stadium being their best effort. Rishabh Pant (261) was the only Indian batter to aggregate more than 200 runs in the three-match series.

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"They had three-and-a-half batters" - Aakash Chopra on New Zealand playing spin better than India

Will Young was one of the star performers for New Zealand with the bat. [P/C: BCCI]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that New Zealand didn't have a formidable batting lineup and didn't post massive totals in Pune and Mumbai either.

"If we see the opposition team, they had three-and-a-half batters - Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, and Tom Latham played just one knock in the entire series. Daryl Mitchell kept troubling but he too played just one big knock. They weren't able to do it consistently together. It's not that the opposition team scored 350-400 runs when the ball was turning. They did that only on a flat pitch," he said (2:20).

While observing that the Kiwis played spin better than India, Chopra added that the hosts struggled while defending and attacking the spinners.

"However, they too played better spin than us. Neither do we have confidence in defense nor control over our shots. We don't have shots and are trying to find them, that we should play the sweep. We were practicing every day before the match but it is like learning a new language," he stated.

Chopra opined that the Indian batters are unable to play spin because they don't play domestic cricket. He added that since the focus is more on white-ball cricket, the batters no longer have the habit of playing spin on turning pitches.