This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on October 30, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.
On Saturday, for the first time in over a decade, the Indian men’s cricket team lost a home Test series.
After their rather convincing victory in the rain-affected first Test in Bengaluru, the Tom Latham-led New Zealand side schooled India in just three days in the second Test in Pune to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
The loss in Pune marked the end of one of the greatest sporting streaks. India had won 18 consecutive Test series at home over the last 12 years, before the Kiwis stopped them in their tracks. This was a surprise result, considering that New Zealand came into the series after a 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka and were without the services of their best batter Kane Williamson.
But as far as India is concerned, it was a long time coming.
“We are allowed one such performance in 12 years,” said captain Rohit Sharma immediately after surrendering the three-match series. “If we were collapsing like this on a regular basis, then we would not have been winning at home.”
Sharma’s statement could be discounted if this indeed was a one-off blip – but it was not.
The lower middle-order and all-round duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin Ravichandran along have quite often done the heavy lifting for India at home. Not only have they been unplayable with the ball in hand, but they have more often than not bailed India out of trouble with the bat over the last few years.
Ashwin and Jadeja failed to impress with the bat in the first two Tests against New Zealand and they only have six wickets each so far in the series. This is a rarity for the spin twins, but it certainly played a big part in the inaugural World Test Champions ruling in India.
India’s top two batters – Sharma and Virat Kohli – have endured a forgettable series as well. The latter in particular averages around 32 in home Test matches over the last four years – a mighty fall from grace for someone who used to smash double centuries at will.
Sharma also has been far from impressive with his high risk approach not paying off while opening the batting.
India have also phased out veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. While their replacements have had good introductions to Test cricket, they are still learning the trade.
Even when it comes to fast bowling, the team has been reliant on Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj over the last three years.
Team India is in the middle of a transition period, especially with a new coach, Gautam Gambhir, still finding his feet in the squad. Their main match winners in Test cricket over the last decade are all on the wrong side of 30.
The next couple of years might be a difficult time for India in Test cricket. It is inevitable that the likes of Sharma, Kohli, Jadeja, Ashwin move out of the set-up permanently.
The Gautam Gambhir coaching era has begun in troubled waters and the future of India in the longest format of the sport might well be decided on how well he executes this transition.