BENGALURU: It has been more than a year-and-a-half but India’s crushing 0-3 Test series defeat to New Zealand at home still rankles. The Indian batters’ repeated struggle against spin was particularly alarming. The concerns only deepened when the team followed it up with a 0-2 series loss to South Africa, again at home.

Now, as India gear up for a two-Test series against Sri Lanka, their ability to negotiate spin will once again come under the scanner. The first Test begins in Galle on Saturday with the conditions expected to be spin-friendly. Former India captain Kapil Dev believes the problem goes beyond technique. He feels the players’ heavy white-ball cricket schedule has affected their preparedness and performance in the longest format.

“India recently have not been at th-eir best against spin bowling because they play too many T20s and One-Da-yers. Test cricket is a different ball ga-me but I hope they can put their head together and play better in Sri Lanka,” said the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, who was in the city to launch the Bengaluru Blasters team, ahead of the inaugural JITO Premier League.

Kapil also advocated the importance of international players playing domestic cricket. “Playing domestic cricket is very important. The reason why Indian teams struggle against spin is that the top players don’t play enough domestic cricket. That’s where the BCCI should put its foot down and make everyone play three-day and four-day matches. The other aspect is that the younger generation will get to learn from top players in domestic cricket,” Kapil said.

One of the highlights of Kapil’s 121-Test career, which spanned 16 years, was that he never missed a Test due to injury. Given the change in the workload of players, Kapil, who said it was unfair to compare eras, joked about the secret to remaining injury-free: “My mom is no more; otherwise, she could have given a few recipes.”

On a serious note, the pace legend emphasised the importance of understanding the body and preparations. “One should know about one’s own body. There is too much T20 and ODI cricket happening, so you have to be careful about the toll it takes on the body. Our body is actually not tuned to being a fast bowler. Our body is more tuned to being a batsman. The BCCI should look into how much workload to give fast bowlers,” said the 67-year-old.