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India beat Australia by an innings and 132 runs in the first match of the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin proved to be too good for the visitors in Nagpur.
The match followed the trends of the last four Ranji Trophy games held at this venue. However, Australia were expected to be more competitive, given their batting is much better than most teams that have toured India in recent times.
The Men in Blue have not lost a single home Test series since 2013. They have lost only two Test matches, against Australia in Pune, 2017, and against England in Chennai, 2021. The quality of Indian spinners has been a major reason for their unbeaten run on home soil.
#1 Quality
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden once said that, contrary to popular belief, India is one of the most difficult places to bowl spin. The reason why this statement makes sense is that bowlers need to know the appropriate lines, lengths, and pace at which they need to bowl. Some of the greatest spinners of all time have struggled on their tours to India.
Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 457 Test wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja has taken 249 wickets. There is a method to Ashwin and Jadeja's madness. Ashwin is a student of the game and is always willing to adapt and add more aspects to his bowling. Jadeja is an accurate customer who gives nothing to the batters.
Axar Patel made his Test debut in 2021. Since then, he has picked up 48 wickets at an average of 14.70 in nine Test matches. India have never lost a Test match when this trio have played together.
#2 Variety
In most of the best spin bowling attacks, the profiles of the bowlers are usually complimentary rather than overlapping. India have a right-arm off-spinner who possesses various skills, a left-arm orthodox spinner who bowls quicker and is more accurate than the average spinner, and another left-arm orthodox spinner with an extremely high release point.
This provides the home team with a huge advantage because it does not allow opposition batters to settle at any point during the innings. The spin-friendly pitches test your patience and skill as a visiting batter. So when you face a spin attack of this quality and variety, it can unsettle the approach of visiting batters.
#3 Batting depth
Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel form the lower order for home Tests. Not only are they exceptional bowlers, as we have already discussed, but they are also proficient with the bat.
Jadeja is arguably the most improved Test batter in the world over the past five years. At home, he has scored 1527 runs in 50 innings at an average of 42.41.
Ashwin has five Test centuries to his name. He is also the first Asian cricketer to have achieved a double of 3000 runs and 450 wickets in the format.
Axar Patel also has a decent Test record considering that he has predominantly batted at number 9. He has scored 333 runs in 14 innings at an average of 27.75.
