'Every batter has a shortcoming somewhere. You need to find where the shortcoming is.'
Mohammad Kaif has questioned India's tactics against Sonal Dinusha, pointing to a specific weakness the Sri Lankan batter repeatedly showed during the second Test in Colombo.
With Dinusha going on to score an unbeaten 133 and deny India victory, Kaif felt the visitors failed to make the most of the information they already had.
Dinusha produced a stunning unbeaten 133 in Colombo to help Sri Lanka secure a draw after being forced to follow on.
Speaking during a discussion on Sony Sports, Kaif said the failure to find a way past Dinusha was not just on Captain Shubman Gill, but on India's entire bowling unit and coaching staff.
'Every batter has a shortcoming somewhere. You need to find where the shortcoming is. I am not talking about Gill. I am talking about the entire bowling unit and even the coaching staff. Everyone sits together and discusses that he scored a hundred in Galle, and where we can trap him when he comes now,' Kaif said.
Kaif pointed out that India had already found a way to trouble Dinusha in the first innings of the Colombo Test. Debutant off-spinner Saransh Jain dismissed him for 103 after bowling a fuller delivery while Mohammed Siraj had also tested him with a similar line.
'Tactically, I agree that they attacked less, the field was opened up yesterday, and the drive ball wasn't bowled. Saransh Jain had dismissed him with that after his hundred. Mohammed Siraj had bowled a full ball, and he left it because he doesn't like playing the drive. He doesn't like playing shots there,' Kaif added.
For Kaif, India's inability to target that weakness was particularly surprising given the resources available to the team. With video analysts, statisticians and a large coaching staff, Kaif said India should have had a clear plan for Dinusha in the second Test.
'You are talking about India. It's not a club match that you got late. A video analyst is sitting, a stats person is sitting, and six or seven coaches are sitting,' he added.
Kaif also acknowledged that India's younger bowlers may lack experience of bowling deep into Test matches, especially on pitches that evolve as the game progresses.
'Our modern young bowlers play very rarely on such a pitch. They don't play on the fifth day. A Test match doesn't go that long. So they also don't know how to tackle it, and we have not seen this batter,; Kaif said.
However, he felt India's lack of familiarity with Dinusha could no longer be used as an excuse in the second Test. The Sri Lankan had already made an impact in Galle, where he scored a century, and then followed it up with another hundred in the first innings in Colombo.
'They haven't seen him at all. So there was a slight surprise package as well. The mistake happened in the second Test match. I can agree that you hadn't seen him in the first Test match,' Kaif observed.
By the end of the Colombo Test, Dinusha's strengths and weaknesses were there for all to see. Kaif noted that despite scoring heavily, the Sri Lankan had not been able to consistently find boundaries through the cover region.
'In the second Test match, you won't find a single boundary with a cover drive. He has played the pull, sweep, reverse sweep, but not the cover drive.'
Dinusha finished the two Test series with 420 runs at an average of 140.
His unbeaten 133 in Colombo, after scoring another century in the first innings, earned him the Player of the Match award and played a key role in Sri Lanka salvaging a draw after following on.