Former spinner Harbhajan Singh believes the team must start playing on better pitches if they want to safeguard the future of Indian cricket. His comments came after India’s heavy 408-run loss to South Africa in the second Test on Day 5 (Wednesday, November 26) in Guwahati. The victory helped the Proteas secure a 2-0 clean sweep, having won the opening Test in Kolkata by 30 runs inside three days. Ad With India suffering a home Test series whitewash for the second time in just over a year, Harbhajan, in a video on his YouTube channel, stressed the need for better wickets while noting that the temperament and hard work required for Test cricket have been missing from the side for some time. He said: “So if someone feels irritated hearing this, let them feel it. It does not matter to me. But somehow, 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.” Ad Trending “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 added. This was only the second time South Africa have won a Test series in India, their previous triumph coming in 2000. Ad “Pitch was such that no one even knew what was going to happen” Harbhajan Singh lashes out on track used in home Tests In the same video, Harbhajan Singh said that South Africa hit the jackpot in the Kolkata Test, calling it a ‘lottery’ as the pitch excessively favored the bowlers, adding: Ad “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.” Ad The former spinner also criticized India’s temperament in the Guwahati Test, pointing out how South African batters scored heavily in both innings while the hosts collapsed cheaply on each occasion. The 45-year-old said: “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.” Ad “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. Meanwhile, attention now shifts to limited-overs cricket, with the two sides set to clash in a three-match ODI series starting November 30 in Ranchi. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news Edited by Dev Sharma.
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