India's surprising 0-2 loss to South Africa in the just finished Test series has left the team reeling.
Earlier this week, South Africa gave India a record loss in Test cricket, defying expectations. This represented the Proteas' first series win in India in 25 years and India's another home failure in just one year after a 12-year invincible streak.
The positive trajectory built over the past six months has all but vanished and the prospects of a number of cricketers - including head mentor the coach - are now uncertain.
Early Optimism Vanishes
The emerging side's impressive performance in the UK this summer, under a different skipper, indicated a successful handover following the close together exits of key players R Ashwin, Sharma, and Kohli.
A facile 2-0 victory over West Indies at the start of the home campaign strengthened that view, before the South Africans arrived to deliver a devastating defeat.
India were a tad unfortunate that leader Gill got injured quickly in the opening Test and took no further part in the series. Yet that neither explains nor absolves the side of the highly disappointing display in the two games against South Africa.
A number of star cricketers took a hit, and multiple individuals hoping for lengthy Test careers were exposed as not yet good enough - in ability or temperament - for the longer format.
Worrying Trend
This was the second clean sweep in home conditions suffered by the Indian team in just a year. In 2024, underestimated the Kiwis had pulled off a surprising 3-0 triumph which effectively cost the hosts a spot in the WTC final.
The recent defeat to the Proteas risks harming the team's prospects of qualifying for the final of this cycle too.
After being third in the WTC rankings ahead of the matches, India have fallen to fifth place. Although nine further games are remaining, five of these are against Australia. Ordinarily, competing on home turf would be a huge advantage - even when facing the powerful Australians. Yet the failures against New Zealand and the Proteas offer no room for such assurance.
Reasons for the Slump
The national team's frailty in Test cricket has been clearly revealed. However, the reason India have struggled so much in Test matches on home soil recently is continues to confuse.
From the year 2000 onwards, the Indian cricket team were considered unbeatable in Test cricket at home. Under sweltering weather and on surfaces that favored spin bowling and suited their batsmen and bowlers, India faced little challenge. The odd series defeat, like in the 2012-13 season against the English, was seen as an anomaly.
Now, India seem beatable at home.
Facing the Kiwis in last year and the Proteas currently, India were beaten at their own game. The pitches they developed to suit their strengths backfired spectacularly, as opponents exploited them better, surpassing India's batsmen and bowlers when it counted the most.
What Happened?
Certain analysts propose that India is failing in home conditions because domestic pitches have been changed from turners to pace-friendly pitches to get cricketers ready to succeed overseas.
A few mention that the domestic T20 league, in which many overseas players take part, has taken away the unfamiliarity and challenge Indian conditions would present to them before.
Even though there is some truth in both analyses, it does not clarify the reason the side's results on home soil have seen such a dramatic drop.
Multiple Failings
Most former players diagnose a complex, multi-headed problem, not just a few causes.
Analysts and squad members have highlighted multiple deficiencies after India's disappointing performance to the South Africans: underrating the rivals, lack of preparation, poor choices, arrogance, frequent changes of the starting eleven, and emphasizing limited-overs over the longer format.
This was evident in the showings of the squad.
Cricketers such as Rishabh Pant and Jaiswal, of whom great things were anticipated, paid for their lack of application, while Sudarshan, Reddy, and Jurel - who were aiming to establish their spot in the side - were found wanting in technique and temperament, facing the fallout for their casual attitude.
Only a handful - Ravindra Jadeja, Bumrah, Kuldeep, Siraj and Washington Sundar - fulfilled their talent and reputation - but inadequately to secure victories.
Coaching Scrutiny
The post-mortem also included the entire setup - team selectors and coaching staff were also under fire, fuelled by upset followers and vocal past stars. At the centre of the examination was team coach Gambhir.
During his post-series press
