BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has backed India’s Test team ahead of the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati, despite their failure to chase down 124 runs in the first Test at the Eden Gardens.
With that loss, India have now lost four of their last six home Test matches, which has raised concerns among fans. However, in an exclusive interview with RevSportz, Saikia addressed the recent worries surrounding India’s Test cricket. He made it clear that one defeat will not force any change in their long-term plans for the ongoing World Test Championship cycle.
“One loss against South Africa in Kolkata will not dilute our plan to go into the next World Test Championship cycle. If you look at the New Zealand series, which was about a year ago, that was in the previous circle of WTC. So that was over when South Africa played Australia in England, that was the last match. After that, the new cycle started and in that cycle,India went to England to play five Test matches. That was drawn 2-2 and that boosted the confidence of the Indian Test team to look forward to the next cycle. Thereafter India won against the West Indies 2-0,” Saikia said.
He pointed out that the defeat was a close one and should not cause unnecessary panic.
“So one loss, which was a sudden loss I should say in Kolkata. The margin was very narrow, 30 runs. So that will not upset our planning for going ahead with the WTC matches and the final is slated sometime in 2027. There is a long way to go.”
Saikia also reminded fans that this is a new-look side after major retirements.
“We are having a pretty new team with the retirement of R Ashwin, Virat Kohli as well as Rohit Sharma; three top players who are quite senior in the team with their experience. They have left Test cricket and therefore we are grooming a new team under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. So we have tohave patience, we must boost up their confidence and we should not get ourselves with some knee-jerk reactions after one sudden defeat. So I am sure our boys will get back their confidence in the Guwahati Test and in the coming days they will perform superbly and your opinion about Indian Test cricket will change very soon.”
India will now look to draw the series in the second and final Test against South Africa in Guwahati starting on November 22.
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