'When you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently.'
Ajinkya Rahane has criticised India's team management, saying batters aren't ready for spin-friendly home pitches and domestic preparation is falling short.
Rahane, who has captained India on similar tracks in the past, argued that players rarely get opportunities to play on turning wickets because such surfaces are scarce in domestic cricket.
Rahane also contradicted Coach Gautam Gambhir's assessment of India's loss to South Africa in the first Test at the Eden Gardens, saying it was unfair to blame the batters when the pitch proved challenging for both sides.
India lost the series opener by 30 runs, failing to chase 124 in the final innings, in a match where neither side managed a 200-run score and the game ended within two-and-a-half days.
While Gambhir defended the pitch amid criticism, insisting he expected his batters to chase 124 regardless, Rahane said the problem lies in preparation.
Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube show, he highlighted how domestic pitches have shifted to being mostly flat or seamer-friendly, leaving batters ill-equipped for extreme turn.
'In Tests, we make pitches that turn. But if you have quality spinners, yes, you can make turning wickets. However, you need to understand when they should start turning. If you want wickets that turn from Day 1, then you must have similar pitches in domestic cricket,' Rahane said.
'Because if your players are going to play on such wickets in Test matches, they need to experience the same in domestic cricket. Domestically, we generally play on flat or seaming pitches. Very few have been rank turners.
'Yes, a couple of red-soil pitches assist turn, but that usually happens from Day 3 onwards. The first two days are good for batting.'
Rahane stressed that playing on spin-friendly pitches requires different preparation.
'When you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently. I don't think we can fault the players here. They haven't played on such wickets. Even in practice, they don't train on such pitches,' he said.
Rahane noted that overseas teams are better prepared for Indian conditions, while India itself doesn't give batters sufficient time to adjust. Rahane suggested a 10 to 15 day pre-series camps for home Tests.
'Why are we doing well overseas? Because our preparation for touring abroad is good. We play on seaming and bouncy wickets. But for spinning pitches, we haven't prepared as well. So, it has been really challenging for our batters to play on such wickets.
'Yes, home advantage should be used. We need to bring the spinners into play. But we also need to prepare our batters. Hold a 10 to 15-day camp and start preparing for that. Look at England and New Zealand's preparations. They had camps. England had a camp in Dubai. New Zealand camped in India. But we assemble only three or four days before a Test match and still expect our batters to do well?'
Rahane highlighted the contrast in preparation between India and visiting teams. South Africa arrived in India after playing two Test matches on spin-friendly pitches in Pakistan, while India flew straight into Kolkata following a white-ball series in Australia.