'It's the IPL,' says ex-Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting on reason behind India's vulnerability against spin

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting says that India's whitewash at home against New Zealand has shown their vulnerability against spin. India's 0-3 loss vs New Zealand earlier this month was their first-ever clean sweep at home in a Test series.

“I think the one thing it does probably say is it’s really starting to highlight India's vulnerability against good quality spin bowling,” said Ponting on the latest edition of the ICC Review podcast.

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“It seems as though the skill of the modern Indian batsmen of playing spin is probably not what it used to be,” he added.

The former Aussie skipper pointed out the changing nature of pitches in India which now favour pacers more than spinners as one of the reasons for Indian batters' dwindling ability to spin.

“Maybe because they're playing on different wickets in India that are probably for the fast bowlers a bit more, maybe because there's more high-quality fast bowlers in India now that they're not playing as much spin bowling as they did,” the former Aussie skipper explained.

He also mentioned IPL and the aggressive nature of batting among modern batters as another reason.

“Maybe it's the IPL or how much IPL cricket they're playing that the younger players are learning the game that way rather than the way that players did 15 or 20 years ago,” Ponting opined.

India are next due to play Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series comprising of five Tests.

India's tour of Australia begins on November 22 in Perth before the day-night second Test in Adelaide from December 6-10. The third Test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 14-18 before the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26-30. The last and final Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 3-7.