Why left-arm spin is the biggest epidemic to strike Indian batsmen since 2020?

There are several points from where India can begin the forensics of a momentous home Test series defeat to New Zealand.

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But more instantly, they will confront their superior tormentor-batting against spin-again on a red-soil strip at the Wankhede Stadium. Even the impulsively optimistic fan will have reservations about this riposte from the shaken hosts. Without overreacting, as Rohit Sharma would want, the faithful will believe the team management has tacitly begun to examine the feet of their premier right-hand batters against spin, particularly the left-arm clan.Captain Rohit and his predecessor, Virat Kohli, have endured similar career graphs against left-arm orthodox spinners, embedding crests and troughs of identical amplitudes. The tribe hardly ruffled Kohli and Rohit in the pre-World Test Championship era. However, the capricious downfall since 2020 has regressed their effectiveness on turners and even moderately placid home pitches across three WTC cycles in the last four years. Whatever bug hit the duo before the post-COVID red-ball return caught up with the other Indian batters too, including the younger crop.A red-ball regular only from the start of this WTC cycle, Shubman Gill has already listed a worrying profile that resonates more with the ageing versions of Rohit and Kohli rather than handing spurts of promise against left-arm spin. When India opted for a refined off-spin attack against the left-hand-heavy New Zealand after the Bengaluru Test, the Kiwi counter was super-effective. Three days in Pune, and the visitors had allowed left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner to bag the first two five-wicket hauls and the best match figures (13/157) of his 29-Test career. Anatomy of a fall Domestic batting legend Wasim Jaffer cannot pinpoint a reason for the slump but insists India’s foremost concern at home is their spin-batting. “Foreign teams will find it hard but even we have struggled as a batting unit,” he says. Virat Kohli's slog-sweep dismissals against Shakib and Santner. (Screengrabs) Virat Kohli’s slog-sweep dismissals against Shakib and Santner. (Screengrabs) Kohli’