- Before the commencement of the three-match Test series between India and New Zealand here, none of the cricket connoisseurs, experts, and crazy fans would have given a chance to the visitors to win a Test match forget about winning the series hands down. Since the Kiwis were visiting India after being blanked out 2-0 in Sri Lanka, it was believed that Team India would be simply bulldozing the visitors and claim their rightful place in the World Test Championship. Unfortunately, the script did not unfold as envisaged for Team India as the visitors not only blanked out the home team 3-0 whitewashing them for the very first time in Indian cricket history, but also considerably damaged the reputation built over years of domination at home.
PC: Starbiopic
- Team India was considered an unbreachable fort since the conditions on offer were not only tough but also countering the marauding batters and bowlers with phenomenal records are intimidating enough for any visiting teams. People closely following the fortunes of Indian cricket would have noticed how the rank turners used to be the bane of visiting teams unable to master the wily skillsets of spinners. Mind you, the Indian batters are considered the masters of spin bowling, and the visiting pace bowlers and spinners could hardly make an impact on unresponsive pitches. Little wonder, Indian batters used to score big runs allowing the spinners to simply roll over the visiting teams on rank turners. All that has changed as witnessed in the recent series loss.
- Captain Rohit Sharma has consistently struggled in the recent Test series, hardly troubling the scorers. The talismanic Virat Kohli, except for one 50-plus score, failed time and again to score big runs. The standard that cricket fans are used to expecting from Kohli was sadly missing raising doubts about whether the master batsman is staring at the end of an illustrious career spanning fifteen years. The five-match Test series Down Under determines which way the Test careers of these two stalwarts will head. Young batters like Shubhman Gill, Sarfraz Khan, and Rishabh Pant showed their talent promising stellar roles in the future. This augurs well for Indian cricket. These cricketers will be the flagbearers aiming to emulate their illustrious predecessors in the future.
PC: Reddit
- Bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar did bowl their hearts out but in the absence of backing from the batters found themselves on the losing side. The much-touted debut of the new coaching staff led by Gautam Gambhir will have to answer for the sound drubbing received at home. Of course, some tactical blunders and negative mindsets displayed by captain Rohit Sharma also contributed to Team India losing key moments, especially in the second Test in Pune. In hindsight, did we miss the services of accumulators like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane who used to ensure one end is intact allowing the aggressive batters to score runs freely? The post-mortem must happen for the loss, though.
