Indian skipper KL Rahul has openly acknowledged India’s worrying decline in playing quality spin, especially on home soil—an area that was once considered the team’s biggest strength. Speaking ahead of the first ODI against South Africa, Rahul admitted that he does not have a “definitive answer” for the sudden drop in proficiency. Still, the trend is now impossible to ignore.

Over the last two seasons, India’s batting lineup has repeatedly collapsed against spinners at home in Tests, causing widespread concern within the camp. The results highlight the issue even more starkly. In 2024, New Zealand stunned India with a 3-0 whitewash, powered by Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel, who relentlessly exploited turning tracks.

More recently, South Africa handed India a 2-0 defeat, with off-spinner Simon Harmer dismantling the hosts with accuracy and discipline. For a team long regarded as the world’s best against spin, these back-to-back failures have raised serious questions.

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KL Rahul explained that improvement will require both technical and tactical recalibration, emphasising that such changes cannot occur overnight. “We haven’t played spin well enough in the last couple of seasons,” he said. “All we can do now is understand where we’ve fallen short and look to get better individually and as a group.”

“I really don’t know why… ” 🤷‍♂️

🇮🇳 ODI captain KL Rahul struggles for answers as India look to answer a spin crisis🚨https://t.co/E3y3aUnW10

— TOI Sports (@toisports) November 29, 2025

He added that India will draw on the wisdom of senior players who mastered spin in previous eras, hoping their insights will guide the current group ahead of major upcoming assignments against Sri Lanka and Australia.

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Supporting Rahul’s assessment, former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently expressed frustration at India’s rapid decline, calling their current batting against spin “pathetic” and suggesting they now look like “one of the poorest spin-playing nations in the world.” Ashwin also defended head coach Gautam Gambhir, stating that criticism of him is unfair when the players themselves have not taken enough responsibility on the field.