Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has sought introspection after India’s dismal defeat against New Zealand in the 0-3 series loss. The team lost 25 runs in the final Test in Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The defeat is a big setback for Rohit Sharma-led India, as the team lost its number one position in the World Test Championship standings, with Australia taking the lead.
“Losing 3-0 at home is hard to swallow and calls for introspection. Was it a lack of preparation, poor selection of shots, or inadequate match practice?” Tendulkar said, praising the resilience of Shubman Gill in the first innings and Rishabh Pant for his overall performance in the series. “Pant’s footwork made a challenging surface look altogether different. He was simply superb,” he said.
Tendulkar, meanwhile, credited New Zealand with their consistency, saying a 3-0 win in India was simply fantastic. India’s defeat was historic because it was the first time the team had lost a clean sweep at home in a Test series after South Africa won 2-0 in the 1999-2000 season. It was also India’s first-ever 3-0 clean sweep in a home series of three matches or more.
A significant factor in India’s defeat was the fight against spin, as 37 of the 57 wickets fell to New Zealand’s spinners. Former opener Virender Sehwag ripped into the team’s performance, saying, “While as supporters it’s essential to back the team, this has been a terrible performance. The skill to play spin needs improvement. Some experimentation is beneficial in shorter formats, but unnecessary changes in Test cricket are counterproductive.”
Sehwag congratulated New Zealand’s skipper, Tom Latham, and the entire team for pulling off something every visiting team fancies.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan discussed how players do not get exposure to red-ball cricket with his brother Yusuf Pathan. “We are either playing on grassy pitches or flat tracks but hardly on turning surfaces nowadays. Also, top players aren’t participating in domestic cricket, which might harm us in the long run,” he said.
Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh echoed similar sentiments, urging more congenial pitch conditions for Test matches. “Turning pitches have become our own enemy. Congratulations to New Zealand; they outplayed us. Team India needs to play on better pitches. These turning tracks make every batsman look ordinary,” he said, hinting that the previous generations did not have such daunting conditions.
Coming back to the future, India’s sole remaining commitment over the course of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in November, starting from November 22 and running up to January 7, 2025, across cities like Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. India needs at least four wins against Australia and will have to hope other series go their way to get to the World Test Championship final for a third successive edition at Lord’s next year.
