India endured a disappointing home series loss in Tests for the first time since 2012, as New Zealand ended their 12-year winning streak with a 113-run victory in the Pune Test on Saturday, securing the three-match series 2-0 with one game still to play.
Captain Rohit Sharma admitted that the team never found its footing and allowed the Kiwis to post 259 in the first innings, while the Indian batting order collapsed for 156. The visitors, taking advantage of the situation, added 255 more runs in the second innings to set up a 358-run chase.
India was bowled out for 245 runs and suffered a 113-run defeat after spinner Mitchell Santner posted his career-best figures of 7/53 in the first innings and followed up with 6/104 in the second.
Nonetheless, discussions and criticisms persisted over the pitch conditions as well as the performances of Indian batters.
World Cup winner and former India cricketer Madan Lal voiced his frustration over the Pune pitch.
"We have ourselves to blame. There was no point in making such a pitch. I don't know who asked for this wicket—whether it was the team management's decision or someone else's," he told ANI.
Notably, India had rolled out a spin-friendly pitch in the same venue against Australia in 2017 and crashed to a 333-run defeat.
After losing the first Test in Bengaluru last week, India opted for a rank-turner in hopes of a comeback. However, instead of providing an advantage, the turning track once again revealed the hosts' vulnerabilities—specifically, their struggles on spinning surfaces.
Indian top-order batters have excelled on batting-friendly subcontinent pitches, but the Pune surface neutralised their strengths as they faltered against Santner. The visitors capitalised on the conditions, outbatted the hosts, and utilised their spinners effectively.
Meanwhile, Rohit dismissed allegations against the pitch, acknowledging that the batters struggled to stack up the runs despite bowlers delivering what's expected of them.
"We didn't play well; we didn't bat well in the first innings; we got only 150 [156], and the batters do understand that they failed to respond to that pressure [and] that challenge of playing on whatever pitch," he said.
Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra had inspected the pitch and blamed the batters for their below-par performance and not the pitch.
"If you can’t bat on a slow-turning wicket, you should blame yourself. Spin has become a big problem for us, and we are not able to score runs against our rivals," he said.
It is natural for allegations and criticism to surface when a team that hasn’t lost at home in so long suddenly falters.
What matters most is taking accountability and having the ability to bounce back. Rohit has certainly embraced the former, viewing this loss as a collective failure.
It remains to be seen if India can recover in the final Test in Mumbai to salvage some pride and, more crucially, secure a win that keeps their hopes alive for qualifying for the World Test Championship Final.
This is especially important as they go down under for the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which will ultimately determine India's fate.
