Indian cricket’s much-vaunted home track record, which started in the 1990s under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin and cricket manager Ajit Wadekar, now lies dead and buried. To lose five Tests over two seasons in our own backyard—the 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand last season and now the 2-0 ignominy against World Test Championship holders South Africa—means the Indian Test team is in the throes of a major crisis, with coach Gautam Gambhir copping much of the blame.
Fingers are being pointed at the coach for the chopping and changing of the playing XI and the preference to go in for all-rounders, sometimes referred to as bits-and-pieces players, rather than choose specialists. Stories of cricketers excelling in domestic cricket yet not getting a look-in, including batsmen Sarfraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw, have been circulating for some time now, causing heartburn and resentment among cricket followers.
However, the fact remains the coach does not choose the team; it is the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar who are tasked with that responsibility. But with the BCCI for some years now scrapping the press conferences addressed by the chairman of selectors, it is Gambhir who has to front the media and cop the blame after every setback.
Gambhir, though, does not do himself any favours with his permanently sour expression and the lame excuses and justifications he trots out. To put this latest humiliation down to the transitional period with the batting and spin bowling the team is going through ignores the fact that India were whitewashed by New Zealand late last year when the stalwarts were part of the squad; the same was the case when India were beaten 3-1 in Australia in 2024-25.
The one glimmer of hope was drawing 2-2 in England this summer. But for a country that is the engine of world cricket’s finances and has by far the world’s biggest talent pool, a drawn series should no longer be a cause for celebration, even if played abroad. The absence of stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and R. Ashwin, whether they were pushed or jumped, has certainly left a hole in the side.
But to be crushed in such an ignominious manner at home points to a deep malaise in our cricket’s infrastructure. This same Indian team has excelled in white-ball cricket under Gambhir, but the obsession with the IPL means the focus is taken off red-ball cricket at the domestic level, which adversely affects the Test team. Bottom line: performance in the IPL should never be the basis for selection to the Test team.
