“Other countries don’t do that”: Former PAK captain cites biggest reason for India’s success in test cricket | Cricket

Team India is widely regarded as one of the best passengers in the longest form in recent years. India secured serial wins in Australia (twice; 2018-19 and 2020-21) and made an impressive performance on this year’s England tour, where it leads a five-test series 2-1 (the last test in the series will be played in July 2022). The party is currently on tour in South Africa – a place where India has not yet won a test series.

Much of the merit behind India’s spectacular test success in recent years lies in the duo of Virat Kohlin – test captain – and former head coach Ravi Shastri. However, Salman Butt, a former Pakistani cricketer, pointed out an important aspect of Indian cricket and insisted that other teams have stopped focusing on it.

When asked by a fan behind the Indian away tour, Butt said India will send their A-team before the parent team tour, which will help players significantly.

“India is preparing for it. If you see, the Indian A-teams are going to England and Australia. They were still on tour in South Africa,” Butt said when a fan asked him about India’s success in Australia earlier this year.

“I’ll give you an example. Much of Mohammed Siraj’s first class matches came from outside India, where he took part in four-day games. Other countries don’t. They don’t send their A-teams to four-day cricket like India. In the past, or even Sri Lankan “A” or South African “A” came here. “

The former Pakistani skipper further stressed that players “can’t develop their mindset” to play in the longest form as countries drift away from it.

“Now countries are moving away from long formats. Thoroughly, the players are not prepared for it. They can’t develop a mindset for test cricket, ”Butt said.