Indian Test captain Virat Kohli and head coach Anil Kumble have a chance to bring in a new era where the team will not require "rank turners" to win matches, said off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. With India starting their long home season of 13 Tests with a three-match series against New Zealand on Thursday, Singh said that designer pitches could backfire on the team, reported PTI.

The 36-year-old, who last played a Test match for India in August last year, also took a veiled dig at former captain MS Dhoni when he said, "Over past four-five years, the previous team managements preferred pitches where Test matches would end inside three days. But I believe both Anil bhai and Virat are positive people, who would like play on good Test pitches, where the results are decided on fourth evening or by fifth day post lunch session."

Singh added that India should look at the bigger picture, rather than just trying to notch up wins at home. "Are we gaining anything by winning inside two-and-a-half to three days? Are we also being fair to our batsmen who struggled against South African spinners during last home series? Why do we call it Test cricket? Because it tests your skill from day one to day five at every level. It should give everyone a fair chance to succeed at that level," he said.

The off-spinner said that India should produce sporting pitches, "where skill comes into play", rather than ones where "the bowler doesn't even know where the ball will land and which direction" it will go after landing. "You don't know which one would turn and which one would jump," he said.

Singh also touched upon Indian fast bowlers hardly getting any overs to bowl when playing at home. "People criticise Ishant [Sharma] for having played nearly 70 Test matches with barely 200-plus wickets. But has anyone cared to find out how many overs Ishant had bowled in India? And how many overs with [the] new ball and how many with old one which reverses? And why Ishant has not bowled much is because of having such wickets where you need spin in [the] first hour. If he doesn't get to bowl with the new ball when the seam is hard and new, then we are being unfair to Ishant, who is such a workhorse," he said.

Singh added that New Zealand will not be able to beat India if the hosts bat first on a sporting pitch and score more than 400 runs. "Man to man, we are a better unit. Even if we prepare sporting tracks, we can win 3-0."