MUMBAI: India did not have any tangible answer to New Zealand’s, what seemed like, an infinite variety of cricket. If the hosts perished to some immaculate pace bowling under overcast conditions, almost England–like in Bengaluru, and later, on turning tracks in Pune and Mumbai the batters scratched their heads like students struggling to find solutions to multiple problems. Only Risabh Pant stood among the ruins.
The ending seemed inevitable on Sunday. After all, for the nine days of cricket India and New Zealand have had in this series, the visitors outperformed India in almost every single one. The tenth day (of the three-Test series) was no different either. Losing is something but how India lost would hurt for a while. New Zealand became the first team to beat India in three consecutive Tests at home.
While Tom Latham’s side was spot on in every move, captain Rohit Sharma’s every move seemed to have backfired. He admitted as much after the loss here. “Something like this will be a very low point in my career. I fully take responsibility for that as a captain. I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series. With the bat as well, I have not been good enough,” Sharma said.
It all began in Bengaluru when Sharma misread the pitch and opted to bat. They were never going to recover after the 46 all out in the first innings. In search of a win, India opted for a surface that would assist spinners in Pune. However, it was Mitchell Santner who outfoxed the host batters. The second Test loss exposed the struggles of India’s most experienced batters against spin, especially left-arm bowlers.
In Mumbai, on another rank turner, India went into self-destruct mode. On Sunday, too, the collapse began with Sharma’s miscued pull against Matt Henry. They slumped to 29/5 and eventually fell short by 25 runs while chasing a modest 147.
This India team is in transition where the seniors, including Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, are in the November of their careers — India’s last home series defeat came in the year after they began transition 12 years ago. However, the dominance that followed and the fall in the last three weeks would make this one of the lowest phases in the history of Indian cricket.