The Indian cricket team's surprising 0-2 loss to South Africa in the recent Test series has sent shockwaves through the squad.
In the final match, the visiting team gave India a record Test defeat by runs, against all odds. It was South Africa's initial series triumph in the subcontinent in a quarter-century and India's another home failure in just a year after a 12-year unbeaten run.
The momentum gained during the previous half-year has almost disappeared and the prospects of multiple squad members - including head coach the coach - now hang in the balance.
A Promising Start Vanishes
The young team's commendable display in England this summer, under a new captain, pointed to a successful handover following the almost concurrent exits of key players Ashwin, Sharma, and Virat Kohli.
An easy 2-0 win over West Indies at the start of the domestic season boosted that belief, before the South Africans arrived to deliver a devastating defeat.
India were a tad unfortunate that skipper Shubman Gill suffered an injury early on in the first Test and was ruled out in the series. However, that neither explains nor absolves the side of the highly disappointing display in the two games against the opposition.
Some big reputations took a hit, and a few members eyeing extended tenures in Tests were revealed to be not up to the mark - in ability or temperament - for the longer format.
A Troubling Pattern
This represented the second clean sweep on home soil suffered by India in just a year. Last year, underestimated the Kiwis had secured a remarkable 3-0 win which essentially denied the hosts a berth in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The recent defeat to South Africa could damage India's prospects of qualifying for the final of this edition too.
From number three in the WTC table before the series, India have been relegated to fifth place. Although nine more Tests are yet to be played, a majority are against Australia. Usually, performing in familiar conditions would be a significant benefit - even against the powerful Australians. However the disasters against New Zealand and South Africa provide no basis for such comfort.
Reasons for the Slump
The national team's frailty in Test cricket has been significantly highlighted. That said, the reason India have fared so badly in Tests at home in recent times is continues to confuse.
From the year 2000 onwards, India were considered invincible in red-ball cricket at home. Under sweltering weather and on tracks that favored spin bowling and benefited their players, the hosts faced little challenge. A rare failure, such as in the 2012-13 season against the English, was viewed as an anomaly.
Now, India seem easy pickings on home turf.
Against New Zealand in 2024 and the Proteas currently, the home side were beaten at their own game. The surfaces they curated to help their style failed miserably, as rivals exploited them better, outplaying the home team's players when it counted the most.
What Happened?
Some suggest that India is struggling at home because domestic pitches have been altered from spinning tracks to fast tracks to prepare players to do well abroad.
Others highlight that the Indian Premier League (IPL), in which numerous foreign cricketers take part, has reduced the mystery and hardship home wickets would pose to them before.
Although there is a degree of accuracy in both analyses, it fails to account for why the side's results on home soil have seen such a dramatic drop.
Multiple Failings
The majority of ex-cricketers point to a complex, multi-headed problem, not just a couple of reasons.
Critics and players have identified multiple deficiencies following the team's disappointing performance to the Proteas: not respecting the foe, poor preparation, flawed selections, overconfidence, constant chopping and changing of the playing XI, and emphasizing white-ball over the longer format.
This was evident in the performances of the team.
Members like Rishabh Pant and Jaiswal, of whom high hopes were held, paid for their nonchalance, while Sai Sudarshan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Jurel - who were aiming to establish their position in the squad - were found wanting in technique and temperament, suffering the consequences for their lackadaisical method.
Only a handful - Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Siraj and Sundar - did justice to their talent and reputation - but not sufficiently to claim wins.
Coaching Scrutiny
The analysis also included not only the cricketers - the selection panel and backroom team were also under fire, fuelled by upset followers and outspoken ex-cricketers. At the centre of the scrutiny was team coach Gambhir.
In his post-series press
