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Sanjay Manjrekar analyses India’s home Test whitewashes, citing batters’ struggles with spin and lack of domestic preparation against South Africa.
KL Rahul & Co. faltered massively with the bat against South Africa (Picture credit: AFP)
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that there are several reasons why India suffered two whitewashes at home within a year, reiterating that it is because of Indian batters not being used to playing a lot at home, which eventually leads to their inability to play spin.
In both losses, India were thoroughly outplayed and suffered a heavy whitewash. In the recent Test series against South Africa, the Indian batting unit buckled under pressure, with their struggles against spin exposed.
The Protea batters appeared far more composed, highlighting a troubling vulnerability for India in their own conditions. Star all-rounders Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja were the only ones to cross 100 runs in the two-Test series, while senior pros KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant faltered.
Star batter Yashasvi Jaiswal chipped in with a half-century but could not back it up in the rest of the innings.
Manjrekar believes India’s recent home Test losses point to deeper systemic problems. He argues that domestic batting standouts lose their sharpness after entering the national setup, spending more time overseas and returning underprepared for spin-heavy conditions at home.
“There are two reasons India went down 0-3 to New Zealand and 0-2 to South Africa at home. And both teams beat India not by pace, swing or bounce but by spin. One is when an Indian batter scores heavily in domestic cricket and gets selected for India; he becomes like an NRI,” Manjrekar said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“In the sense that he hardly plays at home. There are more overseas cricket opportunities for Indian batters,” Manjrekar said.
The Indian team excelled on the England tour, with the young batting group standing up under pressure and mastering the overseas conditions. But that form has not translated back home, where their struggles have been far more evident.
November 28, 2025, 23:39 IST
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