The Indian cricket team suffered an embarrassing defeat on Sunday, losing the series 0-3 against New Zealand. The Kiwis’ historic series win made them the first team to whitewash India in a three-match test series on their home soil.
The series defeat for Rohit Sharma led India drops them second place on the World Test Championship table resulting, Australia being the new table toppers.
Following the defeat, legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar tweeted “Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection. Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? Shubman Gill showed resilience in the first innings, and Rishabh Pant was brilliant in both innings — his footwork made a challenging surface look like a different one altogether. He was simply superb.
22 November 2024: Australia vs India, 1st Test in Perth
6 December 2024: Australia vs India, 2nd Test in Adelaide
14 December 2024: Australia vs India, 3rd Test in Brisbane
26 December 2024: Australia vs India, 4th Test in Melbourne
3 January 2025: Australia vs India, 5th Test in Sydney
Meanwhile, after their defeat other legends, Virender Sehwag and Irfan also shared their thoughts.
Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan have their say on India’s defeat
Former opener Sehwag criticized the Indian batting lineup as they lost 37 of the 57 wickets to New Zealand spinners.
“While as supporters it’s imperative to support the team but this has been a terrible performance from our team. The skill to play spin certainly needs an upgrade and certain experimentations are good for the shorter format but in Test cricket doing some needless experimentations just for the sake of it was indeed poor.” Congratulations to Tom Latham and his New Zealand boys on doing what is a dream for every visiting team and no other could conquer in this way,” wrote on his Instagram post.
Former Indian left-arm pacer all-rounder believes that Indian red ball batters lack domestic cricket experience, sharing his conversation with elder brother and ex-Indian power hitter Yusuf Pathan,
“Had a solid conversation with Yusuf (Pathan) yesterday. He made a valid point about domestic cricket – we’re either playing on grassy pitches or flat tracks, but rarely on turning surfaces anymore. Plus, top players aren’t playing domestic cricket. This could hurt us in the long run,” wrote Pathan on ‘X’.
India will visit South Africa for four T20Is starting from November 8 at Durban. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian side.
India’s squad for 4 T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
