India, Nov. 28 -- While working on new deliveries and variations, spin bowlers never stop practicing their stock ball. Tennis players who develop the drop shot late in their career ensure their baseline power is not compromised. India's batters, somewhere in their quest to conquer pace in SENA countries, appear to have lost the art of playing spin.

For an Indian batter, countering spin would often resemble a cheat code. It was almost a given that they would out-bat the opposition, even as the home spinners would spin their web. Not any longer.

It's not just with the current crop of batters, the decline has been slow but systemic. The clean sweep by New Zealand (0-3) last year and more recently by South Africa (0-2) only illustrates the ...