New Delhi: For India, it was the most humiliating Test series loss ever against a team which hadn’t dared to clinch a victory on their soil in years. And what happened in Pune on Saturday was nothing short of a miracle for New Zealand, as they hardly tasted any victory on India soil since the longest period of time. After an over-hyped series sweep against Bangladesh, India faltered against a better side in the world cricket, getting a reality check.
For all the India fans, it might be disheartening to read and hard to digest but the fact of the matter is that India let it slip through. In what seemed as an achievable target of 359, with a world-class batting line up and almost three days to spare, India cricket team succumbed badly in front of the Kiwis who proved out to be a better side. India’s struggle continued on the rank turners and despite having batters capable of tackling any bowling, they failed as the team was caught in their own web.
India’s struggle on rank turners continues
Gone are the days when Indian batters were considered the best in the world cricket to tackle spin as they were devastating on spin-friendly wickets. While some of them were spin experts, the others in the line up were so talented that they could tackle spin and pace equally well. In addition to the struggle against spin, patience was a key factor that was lacking in India’s approach in the chase.
The current Indian batters like Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill among others have a better knack of handling pacers than spinners and that was proved in the opening two Test matches against New Zealand. India found themselves at the mercy of Mitchell Santner’s spin and slipped from dominance to misery in a field where they were known as experts. A chase which needed composure could not even witness even a slide of it.
India caught in own web
This is not the first time India have been caught in their own trap as their have been previous instances where the Men in Blue laid the trap for the opposition while fell into it themselves. Ahead of the second Test match, India prepared a turning track for the Black Caps with the hope of trapping them especially with three spinners in their line up – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, but could not capitalise on the preparation.
It became devastating for the Indians when they witnessed the Black Caps capitalising and using the pitch which they had prepared for them. What Ashwin, Jadeja and Sundar couldn’t do, Santner did by getting rid of India’s main batters who were the torchbearers for the side in the chase. The likes of Jaiswal, Rohit, Kohli, Gill and Sarfaraz were all sent packing by the ace Kiwi spinner, who stole the limelight in the contest.
