Playing on turning pitches in India dents batters' confidence: Harbhajan

Most of the venues in India have produced tracks that offer plenty of turn. As a result, many Tests in India have ended within 2-3 days. While the spinners have a field day, it becomes a nightmare for the batters, for whom every ball becomes a challenge early in the Test. Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes those victories come at a cost as the batters' confidence gets dented too.

"We've started playing on pitches that turn a lot more. We wanted to win, and we did win, but we won in two and a half days. I think if we had produced normal pitches that started to turn from Day 3 and Day 4, we still would have won, but the batters would have gotten time to settle in. We dented the confidence of our batters because anybody get out [cheaply] on those pitches," Harbhajan told Sports Tak.

"We still have a chance [to rectify this]. If we play on good pitches, I don't think anyone can beat India. The pacers that India have, the spin attack that there is, they would definitely win you Tests on Day 5 if not on Day 3. But if you play on good pitches, the batters will score runs, and their confidence will only go up when they score runs. So I don't think our batters have forgotten to play spin but the conditions have been such [in the last few years] that it has become almost impossible."

Harbhajan also believes star players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah should play domestic cricket, but at the end of the day, it should be their call. The Duleep Trophy is all set to get underway on September 5, but these three players will not take part in it.

"It would be great if they play in the Duleep Trophy. When a big player features in these tournaments, it motivates other players who are playing alongside them. These players can make it better [Char Chand lag jayenge]. However, it's their call whether to play or not. I hope that they will feature in domestic cricket," Harbhajan, who has picked up 417 Test wickets, said.

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