Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said India’s whitewash at home against New Zealand showed their vulnerability to tampering. India’s 0-3 loss to New Zealand earlier this month was their first-ever home draw in a Test series.

“I think the only thing it probably says is that it really starts to highlight India’s vulnerability to good quality spin bowling,” Ponting said in the latest edition of the ICC Review podcast.

“It seems that the skill of modern Indian batsmen in playing spin is probably not what it used to be,” he added.

The former Australian skipper pointed to the changing nature of pitching in India, which now favors pacers more than spinners, as one of the reasons for the diminishing ability of Indian batters to spin.

“Maybe because they play on different wickets in India which are probably a bit more geared towards fast bowlers, maybe because there are more high quality fast bowlers in India now that they are not playing as much in spin bowling as before,” explained the former Australian skipper.

He also mentioned the IPL and the aggressive nature of modern batting as another reason.

“Maybe it’s because of the IPL or the amount of IPL cricket they play that young players are learning the game that way rather than the way players did it 15 or 20 years,” Ponting said.

India are next scheduled to face Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series comprising five Tests.

India’s tour of Australia begins on November 22 in Perth before the second day-night Test in Adelaide from December 6-10. The third Test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 14-18 before the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26-30. The last and final Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 3 to 7.