And Team India fails to chase down mere 124 runs in the Kolkata Test, to lose by 30 runs to South Africa. Even the most ardent fan of Indian cricket would have known, that anything beyond 100 was going to be a difficult task. And that became amply clear, in the third over of the chase, with India being reduced to 2/1.
Playing spin as issue
The rest is history. Chasing outside India, and then losing — would have been still acceptable, but what explains the failure in home conditions? India bottling chases is nothing new.. but it is time to hold someone accountable, and perhaps coach Gautam Gambhir. In the Pune Test, the team had failed to cross the line when the target was only 146 — versus New Zealand.
The answer maybe lies in Gambhir’s obsession in playing all-rounders. India had three in this encounter when a specialist would have done the job. GG now has faced defeats in four Tests at home out of eight played. The wins have come against Bangladesh and West Indies.
No. 3 uncertainty hurting India since 2023
If one ignores the all-rounder obsession too, it just the plethora of batters in the team, who can’t play spin well. Against NZ, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel and Glenn Philipps collectively picked up 36 wickets in three matches. Apart from that too, it has been two years and over, India still hasn’t found a replacement for Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 3.
| Batter | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 1019 | 37.74 | 3 | 3 |
| Sai Sudharsan | 273 | 30.33 | 0 | 2 |
| KL Rahul | 112 | 16.00 | 0 | 1 |
| Virat Kohli | 1084 | 37.37 | 3 | 6 |
| Karun Nair | 111 | 27.75 | 0 | 0 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 25 | 12.50 | 0 | 0 |
Including Washington Sundar, as many as seven players have been tried at the position, but no one seems to be finalised as yet. Shubman Gill, the skipper has 1019 runs at No. 3, but he made his way to no. 4, for no clear reason. Sai Sudharsan has 273 runs at an average of 30, while Karun Nair has 111 at 27. Devdutt Padikkal averages 12.50.
So, we are done with a WTC cycle amidst that, and the new one has started as well, but there are no answers, but only more questions added to the existing, never-ending list. Also, there can be doubts raised over the pitch, but then where are the skills to counter spinners like Simon Harmer, who ran through the Indian line-up, and picked up eight wickets.
