India's captain Rohit Sharma reacts after losing the third Test cricket match against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. New Zealand beat India by 25 runs to clean-sweep the series 3-0. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)
A bunch of enthusiastic overachievers from New Zealand made the reputed Team India bite the dust on their own turf, which they had been doctoring for long to build a record of invincibility in Test match cricket. This was indeed a remarkable performance by the visiting Kiwis who showed what patience, application and grit can do to tackle different playing conditions.
Conversely, the much-vaunted gladiators of Team India showed no appetite for the longest format and buckled in not only on two spin pitches but also in the opener that was played in conditions more akin to New Zealand with swing and seam movement dominating.
Indian cricketers have been overindulged by the BCCI in allowing them to opt to play when and where they wish. So much have they been spoiled by the glamour, glitz and money of the popular white ball formats that they may have forgotten what it is like to put your shoulder to the wheel and grind it out over five days to win a Test match.
Their defensive technique thoroughly exposed by the New Zealand quicks in Bengaluru, the Indians were undone by unglamorous Kiwi spinners sticking to the basics and allowing turning tracks to play tricks on the minds of the Indians to complete an unprecedented whitewash of the home team in a 3-Test series.
How much regard they have for Test cricket was made apparent when the underperforming seniors, including captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, declined to play first class cricket ahead of the Test season and they may have overestimated their strengths after beating Bangladesh 2-0 before they met the New Zealanders.
To put everyone on notice, including the super senior demigods of Indian batsmanship, on the tour of Australia and plan a full rebuilding of the team even as they try to improve their now slimmer chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final should be the way forward. Those who don’t have the appetite for the grind of Test cricket, which is still the preferred format of the cricket cognoscenti and a preparing ground for ODIs and T20, should be sent packing.
Team India will not know how to play to win if the policy of preparing dusty turners to avowedly suit the home team spinners is not given up. To achieve its true potential in the longer format as much as it has in being T20 champion and ODI World Cup runner-up, Team India must learn to play on normal pitches at home and try to excel in all conditions, not doctor them.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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