Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who predicted 4-0 result in India’s favour before the start of the ongoing 4-match Test series between India and Australia, said that India’s ability to counter Australia’s spin attack has been the biggest reason behind their poor performance in the series so far. India lost the first match by a massive margin of 333 runs and failed to score 200 in the first innings of the second Test at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.
Ganguly lauded Australia’s preparations for the tour but also said that he has never seen Australian spinners putting so much pressure on Indian batsmen.
“Their two spinners are creating pressure from both ends. It’s a strategy which was used by Team India previously. But I’ve never seen Aussie spinners putting so much pressure,” Ganguly said at the launch of former Bengal speedster Shib Shankar Paul’s academy in Bagha Jatin.
Australian spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe have bowled brilliantly in the series so far. Steve O’Keefe took 12 wickets in the first Test and his figures of 12/70 in the first Test in Pune was the best figures by a visiting spinner on Indian soil. And in the first innings of the ongoing second Test, Nathan Lyon stunned India by taking 8 wickets for just 50 runs and in the process, became Australia’s leading wicket taker against India.
