The Indian team deserves more time to get into the groove in Test cricket considering it remains a relatively inexperienced side but their losses at home shows the players need to play more domestic cricket, said former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. India have been on a stunning run in white-ball cricket, winning two T20 World Cups and a Champions Trophy on the trot. However, that run has coincided with India’s dominance in Test cricket at home ending in spectacular fashion, suffering whitewashes to New Zealand and South Africa. “A few of our senior players retired and in India, for tackling spin and winning Tests, you have to play more domestic cricket,” said Yuvraj on Sports Tak. “We are not getting out to spinners who are absolutely world class. They are not in the same league as Shane Warne, Muralidharan, Harbhajan, Ashwin or Anil bhai. We need to improve our game against spin and that will happen only when we play more domestic games.” Yuvraj said that he tells the younger players he mentors that they may find success in the IPL without domestic cricket but that won’t be the case if they want to play for India. He also said that monetary benefits cannot be the sole motivating factor when playing the longer formats. “Test cricket is a matter of honour. It has now become a matter of honour versus money. I keep telling the boys, that the IPL needs you, but you need the India badge. There are 10 teams in the IPL, they need good players. But you want to play for India, if you are not playing for the country, are you ok with that? Some players are. “I always say that playing Tests or ODIs is a matter of honour, ‘I want to play Test cricket no matter what’. Because that is the biggest test.” The alarm bells first rang when India were whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 in late 2024 shortly after Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach. New Zealand had won just two Test matches overall in India before that in their history of touring the country, with the last of those coming in 1988. India then lost 3-1 to Australia away from home, which led to them missing out on the World Test Championship final for the first time. Ravichandran Ashwin retired midway through the series and later, Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma hung up their boots as well after the rubber. The new-look Indian team led by Shubman Gill then drew England 2-2 in an epic five-match Test series away from home but that was followed by a 2-0 defeat at home to South Africa, who also struggled to compete with India in India in the recent past. Yuvraj said that while their performance in England showed this team deserves more time, the defeats at home needs more attention.Story continues below this ad “For me that was a big win for India. It was such a young team and they drew 2-2 there. That draw that they managed in the fourth Test, you need character for that. So give it some time. “But that also doesn’t mean you lose this badly in India. Losing three Tests in a row, and then two in a row. If it was 2-1 or 3-2 losses, you can understand, but not this badly. That means there is a major issue somewhere and the guys have to think more about domestic cricket, playing more domestic cricket and giving more time to Test cricket,” he said.
Give Gautam Gambhir and young Indian Test team some time but home defeats point to larger problem, says Yuvraj Singh
