Make no mistake, the 3-0 home series whitewash against New Zealand was more humiliating than the ‘summer of 42’ under Ajit Wadekar in 1974, and the back-to-back whitewashes in England and Australia under MS Dhoni in 2011-12.
As Mihir Bose, the BBC’s former sports editor, put it over an interaction: “Let me assure you ‘the summer of 42’, my first as a cricket reporter, was dreadful. India was just not bad in the second innings at Lord’s but gave up in the final Test. They gave the impression they wanted to go home. But this series (against New Zealand), they were at home.”
India’s first-ever whitewash at home in a series involving three or more Tests will remain as a blot on captain Rohit Sharma’s career. It has put the team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir’s methods under the scanner and a review is forthcoming. But the New Zealand series is history now. The Indian team will have to look ahead. The players will have to get it out of their system and start afresh for the upcoming five-Test series in Australia. Easier said than done, but dwelling on the negatives would be a recipe for disaster.
Resurrection is the need of the hour and India will have to do it with the same group of players. When the squad for the Australia tour was announced in the middle of the series against New Zealand, some eyebrows were raised. Wasn’t it more logical for the selectors to wait for the series to end and then announce the squad, taking into account the performances (read, non-performances) of the players? The fact of the matter is that this is the best available squad, for there are no viable alternatives.
The selectors have slammed the Indian-team door shut on Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, as they feel that bringing them back to the fold would be a regressive step. But the future is not looking bright either, with very few youngsters inspiring confidence. After KL Rahul’s failure in the first Test against New Zealand in Bangalore, the senior batsman was dropped and Sarfaraz Khan replaced him in the middle order. The latter scored a brilliant 150 in the second innings in Bangalore, but once Tom Latham & Co blocked his main scoring shot – the sweep – Sarfaraz looked like a fish out of water, without a Plan B.
Both Rahul and Sarfaraz are going to Australia because there are no better alternatives. Rohit and Virat Kohli have been going through an elongated lean patch and their careers have seemingly entered the twilight zone. But no readymade replacements are available at the moment. Jasprit Bumrah lacks a world-class new-ball partner and the team management will have to back Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep to raise their game to complement the side’s pace spearhead.
The current team can draw inspiration from India’s series win in Australia in 2020-21, and how the team rose from the ashes after 36 all out in Adelaide. Over a private conversation, a member of the coaching staff of that side credited then head coach Ravi Shastri for lifting the flagging morale. “Ravi bhai gave a team talk after Adelaide and said: (wilting against) one good spell of fast bowling doesn’t a bad team make,” he said. “It was great to have a coach with such a positive mindset.”
Shastri motivated the boys off the field. Stand-in captain Rahane provided the inspiration on it, with a century at the MCG that personified grit and character.
Coming back to the present, the Australia series, on the heels of a 3-0 defeat against New Zealand, will separate the men from the boys. Gambhir will have to do a Shastri. Someone will have to emulate Rahane with something spectacular on the field. A change of scenery might help. India need to get rid of the New Zealand hangover. The sooner, the better.