Sticky wickets, maybe, but India's batsmen have got to tough it out: Ganguly

Perth, Jan.12 (ANI): India have a lot to ponder after the Test losses in Melbourne and Sydney - most pertinently whether the team has once again gone soft when playing overseas, feels former skipper Sourav Ganguly.

In an article for the Sydney Morning Herald, Ganguly says that India's sixth consecutive defeat in as many matches overseas is something to be concerned about, especially as in most cases, they have been one-sided Tests, with five out of six finishing in four days.

"One problem for India is that their hosts have become smarter at preparing pitches to suit their bowlers more than the Indians. Just as they expect turning pitches in India, there is a conscious effort from opponents to leave grass on wickets. They know it's an ageing batting line-up and that new players are finding their feet in the international arena and hence will find it hard in the conditions. This has been a clever ploy and the Indians will have to find a way to tackle that," he says.

"Indian cricket has taken a lot of pride in their performance overseas in the past decade, but I fear they have taken a huge step backwards in the past year," he adds.

"Having watched the team closely in all the Tests away from home, the biggest reason for the losses is the inability of the bowling and batting units to fire at the same time and take hold of the game at crucial times. Test matches can quickly turn in such important times and I can recall plenty of times when India has slipped up," Ganguly says.

"The main reason for not holding on to those moments has been the batting. The Indian batting has been rated highly for the past decade, but somewhere in the recent Test matches they have found themselves in difficult positions. They also conceded a 100-run lead to the West Indies in the first Test of that series, in Delhi, but got out of jail because of a poor performance from an ordinary West Indies team - otherwise, that could have been hard work also," he adds.

"India's problem also has been the new ball, the first or the second, every time they have batted abroad. None of the openers has gone on to make hundreds or put in a fair partnership to take the shine of the new ball and allow the middle order to breathe easier. To win Test matches overseas, one has to guts this period out, but India have faltered too many times," Ganguly concludes. (ANI)