India's Test side suffered yet another jolt on home soil, courtesy the 30-run loss to South Africa in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. If we take out the West Indies series, this was India's fourth defeat in a row at home against Test teams ranked in the top five. There is also a worrying pattern in there - the losses have come on explosive spin tracks that were actually prepared to help India.
It is an open secret that India's batters aren't as good against spin as they used to be once upon a time. The advent of DRS is also a huge factor in how spin is played these days. After being tormented by Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj in Kolkata, the Indian team has called up Bengal's ambidextrous spinner Kaushik Maity as bet bowler as part of spin preparations.
Maity is an ambidextrous bowler - meaning that he can bowl with both hands. He is essentially a finger spinner, which means he can bowl left-arm finger spin and right-arm finger spin. On Tuesday (November 18), he was in action in the nets, bowling to India's batters according to their profile.
For India's left-handers, Maity was bowling right-arm off-spin, to simulate the threat that Harmer caused in Kolkata. For the right-hander batters, the 26-year-old Bengal spinner switched to left-arm off-spin to help them prepare against Keshav Maharaj's threat. Maity is still a newbie in domestic cricket, having played just 11 white-ball games for Bengal - eight of them List A where he has 10 wickets.
Maity shot to fame in the 2025 season of the Bengal Pro T20 League and impressed the likes of Australian legend Michael Clarke who was there as commentator for the tournament.
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“You’ll be playing IPL, no doubt at all," said Clarke during the tournament after watching Maity bowl.
“To be able to do this—bowl with both arms—is phenomenal. You could spin the ball both ways, and that’s a huge advantage."
While he is currently serving as net bowler for India's Test team, an IPL contract doesn't seem far away, given that he also adds immense value with the bat. A genuine all-rounder who can bowl with both arms - that is unprecedented asset right there.