India's Disaster at Home which was Long Due

A whitewash is always an extreme result anywhere in the World. To do so against India at in India though is a huge and unthinkable feat. While New Zealand's achievement is incredible in its own respect, there remains a lot to introspect from the Indian point of view. A dominance over 12 years was built upon a large set of aspects, but going deeper, the naive nature of the Indian fans and those in the side to did kick in. They say winning papers over the cracks is what happened in the last three years or so.

For 12 years, visiting sides would often come to India with one question in mind. How do we tackle Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja? The dominance of the duo made it look as though a state team with those two players could be enough for Test Cricket in India, and the last three years did see that happening as well on some occasions. The dominance though was a lot more than that. In the initial days, the pitches, which were good for spinners, tended to be good for spin only as the game progressed. Visiting spinners had their task cut out as the ball did not talk as much for them as it did for the Indian spinners, hence creating a gap in skill for the Indian spinners to exploit. The batters too found it easier for that reason and in Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, the batting line-up had names who could play spin bowling pretty well. As time went on though, the names in the line-up changed, and with the pitches becoming more challenging, the batting line-up struggled against top-notch spin bowling as was seen in the previous series. From 2012 to 2021, India lost only one Test at home, in Pune, and that was on one of the driest tracks possible.

From 2021 to 2024 though, India has faced defeat at home five times. The current series defeat as mentioned was long due as well with the previous wins papering a lot of cracks. The batting in particular has been a major concern with the Indian batters struggling against spin and struggling to bat time and allow their own spinners a more worn surface to play on. Back in 2017, India did not bother too much about the toss with their batters capable of wiping out any deficit and creating a lead large enough to bat only once. Now though, the toss has become a huge factor with the Indian batters struggling to contribute, particularly the ones in the top five. While India did win the Border Gavaskar Trophy at home in 2023, the signs were also evident during that series, but the win covered up the alarm bells. A century from Rohit Sharma in the first Test and contributions from the lower order helped the batting line-up get runs and win the Test comfortably. The second Test though was played on a rank turner and while India came out on top it was largely due to their bowling and lower-order batting. In fact, Australia were in a really good position for a significant part of the Test. They had a one run lead after the first innings and a target over 180 could have had things in their favour. A superb spell from Ravindra Jadeja though did not allow them to level the series. They did a Test later though conquering the rank turner in Indore which had the Indian batters, barring Pujara, dancing to spin yet again. Had Australia batted a little better on the third innings at Delhi, India's streak would have ended a year ago.

An year and a few months later though, the cracks continued to show. The top order collapses remained and it was evident against Bangladesh in Chennai as well. With India at 144-6, the game was in the balance. Ashwin and Jadeja though, as they have done with both bat and ball many times over the years, were the ones to bail India out and get them to a winning position. The concern that was being ignored though is the rise in lower order contributions over the years. At the peak of India's home dominance, the frustration for many of the opponents coming was getting India's lower order out of the way. Back then though the top five did the job and the lower order often took India from a strong position to a completely dominating one. Fast forward and the situation changes. The top five, barring Jaiswal and to some extent Gill has struggled to instill confidence in the ongoing series. The batting line-up as has been the case in recent times seems most reliable from 5-8 with Pant, Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar Patel and now Washington Sundar looking the most comfortable out in the middle. Rather than going from strength to strength, the wicketkeeper and all-rounders are now dependent on saving the batting line-up which is something that is not very easy against quality bowling on challenging pitches, which is where the current series loss took place. 

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma struggling, a significant burden came onto the middle and lower middle order. The New Zealand bowlers did their homework well and they managed to dominate with ease. Their batters did another unthinkable task in the series. They conquered Ashwin and Jadeja, sweeping and taking them on. However, while that is likely to be introspected, the details going into their attack is something to be observed as well. The bowling attack, in all three Tests, was not given enough runs to play with. 46 in the first innings of the first test and 156 in the second Test left little for the bowlers to do, and the New Zealand batters, with far less pressure on them were able to take on the cornered Indian bowlers. Ashwin in particular struggled. With little to play with his variations were reduced as he did not bring out his carrom ball as often. With little to guess, the New Zealand bowlers took him out of the attack while Ravindra Jadeja too was unable to find his control. With the pitch turning square, the difference in quality was diminished as well with New Zealand's spinners having just as much an advantage. They capitalized and they made the Indian batters look very weak. 

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In the end it was a massive unraveling for India, but the signs were evident. The batting line-up has struggled for a while now, and the patience aspect has been missing as well. Batting time and batting against spin has been a huge concern. While the bowlers, Ashwin and Jadeja in particular have struggled, the batters not giving them enough runs to play stands a major concern as India head to Australia with very ominous signs ahead. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are struggling for form, and a handful of the side are playing in Australia for the first time. They take on the likes of Starc and Cummins soon. The 2012 whitewash saw the struggle of India's senior legends, and that led to some really low scores, making it easy for Australia to take on the Indian bowlers. The signs for such a whitewash are very ominous and if Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to struggle it could well be some really tough and dark days for Indian Cricket.