PUNE: The oxygen had been sucked out of the place. A cheery afternoon crowd were refusing to believe what was unfolding. The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium was bearing witness to the death of a dynasty, a kingdom being knocked down in front of their eyes... an end of an incomparable era.
Shortly after Tea on Day 3, as Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin tried to string together a couple of commas towards achieving the improbable, there was a certain element of tragicomedy. The two spinners, so often who have bowled India to victory in these conditions to preserve their proud home record, were merely delaying the inevitable.
Even as hundreds of fans started making their way to the exits, the two veterans fought gamely for 44 minutes. Once Ashwin fell to Mitchell Santner, the Kiwi picking up his 13th scalp of the Test, any sense of a miracle evaporated. The Black Caps, the inaugural World Test Championship champs, had mastered one of the hardest challenges in the sport; win a Test series in India. The most unlikely team to end more than a decade of dominance.
It’s hard to put into words the enormity of this upset for a few reasons. Since the beginning of 2013 till the end of the Bangladesh series earlier this month, the hosts had played 53 Tests at home and won 42 (16 of them by an innings). The Kiwis had won only two away Tests since the beginning of the 2019 WTC cycle till two weeks ago.
Put it this way — a team that seldom wins away from home beat the team that always wins at home 2-0 in 10 days. It will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest shocks the sport has known this century. However, skipper Sharma refused to do any immediate ‘postmortem’ following the loss.
“This is the first time we have had collapses,” he said.
“We are not able to bat properly. So, it is allowed once in 12 years. If it had been happening for 12 years, we would not have won. But, we have high expectations in India. We have to win all the matches.”