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BENGALURU : After India's batting frailties were brutally exposed in a 3-0 home series defeat by New Zealand, captain Rohit Sharma said it was important that his players get in the right frame of mind for what promises to be a challenging tour of Australia.
Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar has called for introspection after the hosts' suffered a 0-3 Test series defeat at the hands of New Zealand after losing the third game at the Wankhede Stadium by 25 runs on Sunday. As a result of the loss in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma-led India also lost their top spot in the World Test Championship standings and dropped to second place, behind new table-toppers Australia.
India's former cricketers fell into stunned silence in the immediate aftermath of the unmitigated disaster against New Zealand here on Sunday. But once they have gathered their thoughts, they pulled no punches while reviewing the team's debacle. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh called for "introspection", urged the team management to stop "needless experimentation" in the Test format and start playing on better pitches. India faced a humiliating 0-3 whitewash at home for the first time ever after suffering a 25-run defeat in the third Test against a New Zealand side that arrived here on the back of a 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka.
India batting stalwart Virat Kohli is set to become only the third Indian to achieve an exceptional feat. If Kohli plays and bats in the third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, he will follow in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and become only the third-ever Indian cricketer to bat 600 innings across all formats of international cricket. Kohli is currently on 599 innings, having played 199 in Tests, 283 in ODIs and 117 in T20Is for India.
Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh has witnessed a transition in Indian cricket between 2011-2013 when stalwarts like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman retired with Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, current coach Gautam Gambhir and him being phased out. "Look age is a factor for some in this team but then Virat and Jaddu are extremely fit guys. Yes, age, fitness and form are criteria but the questions crop up once you start losing. The onus obviously comes on seniors in the team. It happened in that phase," he recalled. But he absolutely detests the theory that certain players can't be replaced.
What was almost unthinkable till a few days, looks like a possibility now. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team are only one loss away from being clean-sweeped at home by New Zealand. For the fist time in 18 series (the duration of which spanned 12 years) India have lost a Test series at home. India's record of 18 consecutive bilateral home series wins has come to an end - the longest such sequence for any team.
The Indian cricket team slumped to a historic Test loss to New Zealand in Pune on Saturday that saw the side's 12-year winning streak at home end in spectacular fashion. Last time, India lost a Test series at home, MS Dhoni was still the captain while Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were all playing. The loss in the second Test of the three-match series has dented India's chances of entering the World Test Championship final a lot.
Former New Zealand cricketer and broadcaster Simon Doull lambasted Indian batters for their poor batting performance against spinners Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips during the second Test against New Zealand at Pune, saying that it is a misconception that modern Indian players are good against tweakers, rather they are as vulnerable as overseas batters on good turning tracks. A shambolic batting performance during the first inning of the Pune Test might have just put the hosts India at a rare risk of a series loss home and has put their 12-year, 18 series-long unbeaten record at in jeopardy.