“Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are the right people to talk about it”- Sandeep Patil on India preferring turning pitches for home Tests

Former Indian batter Sandeep Patil reckons head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma are the right people to talk about the turning pitches for home Tests. While India played on a seam-friendly pitch in the opening Test match against New Zealand at Bengaluru, they preferred turning tracks for the last two Test matches at Pune and Mumbai.

The home team suffered a 0-3 Test series loss for the first time at home and this was New Zealand’s first Test series triumph on the Indian soil. However, India’s decision to play on rank turners came back to bite them as Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel delivered for the Kiwis in the second and third Test respectively.

Speaking to the media, Sandeep Patil said, “It all depends on what the team and the coach want. It is dependent on the strength of the team. Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are the right people to talk about it — they know their strength.

“No one feels good when our team loses but defeats teach a lot of things. I hope that they would have learned a lot of things from this defeat, a lot of discussion would have taken place in regards to what should be done in future and how.”

However, the former Indian head coach backed the team to bounce back after a series loss against New Zealand.

“After every defeat, you have always seen the Indian team bouncing back. Not because I am an Indian and we all are Indians, but they will bounce back because they are a very good side,” he said.

Meanwhile, India defeated Australia in the last two Test series in Australia but Patil feels the visitors will need to fresh start after losing the Test series against the Kiwis.

“They have to play against Australia in Australia, they will have to forget what happened there last time. They will also have to forget what happened in this series (against New Zealand) and look forward. You have to think positive and play positively only then you will get a positive result. If you play defensive cricket and think of winning, it is not going to happen,” said Patil.

“This (series loss) was like a wake-up call. It’s not like our team has been playing badly. A few months back they won the T20 World Cup. There are some big players in our team, surely they will bounce back. They must have learnt so many things from this loss.”

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.