India vs South Africa: Hosts get a taste of their own medicine

It is not the series loss, but rather the manner of abject capitulation by Team that raises alarm bells.

India's abject capitulation to South Africa in the two-match series at home is likely to open a Pandora's box.

Gone are the days when India would dictate terms to the opposition on spin friendly wickets at home as the table has turned on them.

Losing one series at home in a decade used to be the norm during good old days.

A throwback at India's performance from the 80's is an indicator of that.

From 80s to 90's they lost lost a series each at home to the then mighty-West Indies, to the under-rated David Gower's England side and then to Imran Khan's Pakistan.

From 90's to 2000's the only series loss was against South Africa.

Post 2000, Australia tasted success once in 2004 and then it was Englishmen's turn again in 2012.

But then it looked as though India had regained the aura of invincibility at home until the Kiwis whitewashed them at home in 2024, they had not lost a single series.

One series defeat at home can be called an 'aberration'. But what do you make of another in the following year.

As South Africa thrashed India by a whopping 408 runs in the second Test at Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, critics have already started to bay for the blood of coach Gautam Gambhir and Co.

It is not the series loss, but rather the manner of abject capitulation that is more alarming.

The Indian batters, who were masters in the art of playing spin, have off late been at the receiving end and started feeling to get a taste of their own medicine.

Simon Harmer, was the wrecker-in-chief at both Kolkata and Guwahati as India with spin, which which has been sub continental giant's traditional strength, now more or less becoming their 'Achilles heel'.

With a growing surfeit of T20 Leagues and the dwindling interest in 50-over game, Test cricket has been struggling to stay afloat and India batter's difficulty in negotiating spin just epitomises that. They defintely seem to be wanting in technique, when it comes to playing spin.

India's recent travails can be attributed top the fact that players are being fast-tracked into the national team just based on the performance of Indian Premier League while the best of players of spin continue to plunder runs in Ranji Trophy and domestic fixtures.

The batters have forgotten the art of building innings brick-by-brick and playing long innings, which is integral to succeed in white flannels.

Test cricket is still a format which needs specialisation and where quick-fixed don't work.

India tinkered too much with the team composition in both the matches. In Kolkata they did the folly of playing for spinners with one of them pencilled in to bat at the crucial No.3 slot.

The one-drop position in the batting order is so crucial and it is high time since finds a regular fit there as they have been experimenting too much.

Playing two wicket-keeper batters, just based on recent form was another move that backfired.

While the role of a coach in cricket is not like just what say something is like that in football, Gambhir cannot absolve the responsibility of the humiliating loss (the 408-run loss at Guwahati was the biggest in terms of margin).

Ever since Gambhir took over the coachin reins from Rahul Dravid, India's fortunes at home have plummeted, though their oveseas record remains quite decent.

There is a school of thought which believes Gambhir has created lot of uncertainty in the team and the way he handled players Sarfaraz Khan and Karun Nair leaves a lot to be desired.

Gambhir does nor carry the aura of a certain Dravid or even say Ravi Shastri and it is high time since he does some introspection.

South African coach added insult to injury with his 'grovel' omment which looked quite out of context.

All is not lost in Indian cricket. The team's record in white-ball format is awesome. The T20 World Cup is a few months awat where the Men in Blue will be defending their crown and the 50-over World Cup arrives in 2027.

Victories in global events in white-ball formats may force an average cricket fan to forget what happened at the hands of Kiwis and Proteas .

But India are to stay afloat in the longer version, then some drastic changes need to be done. Knee-jerk reactions won't work. The World Test Championship cycle is on and already having missed the previous edition's finals, the onus is Team India to fix chinks in the armour quick.