THE unexpected has happened, delivering a severe jolt to the high-flyers. And it has come from a supposedly non-threatening team which was marked for a disastrous tour in difficult conditions. Salute to the unassuming giants from New Zealand who not only mastered the heat and weather in India but also blunted the hosts’ potent weapon – spin. The 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand is a big low for Indian cricket, something which cannot be forgiven by the die-hard fans of this team. After the spirited fight in the loss in the first Test, Indian cricket’s fans were ready to take one off-day in their stride. But the consistently below-par show by a clueless team in following innings in the next two Tests is unpardonable. The Indians had everything going their way – their own grounds, their own pitches, their own strategies suiting the conditions, their best personnel at service. And yet, they came up as pathetic losers against the New Zealand pacers and spinners. In the entire series, at no point of time the contest looked even. Such was the silent domination of the Kiwis, who stuck to their plans and showed tremendous intent.

 

They were up against the supposedly best players of spin bowling but the limited options they had as tweakers assumed gigantic proportions in the last two Tests dwarfing the Indian batters. The series has woefully exposed the vulnerability of the Indian batsmen against spin. Before the same bunch of players flies to the Australian shores for a tough five-Test examination, the management, the selectors and the BCCI mandarins need to sit down for a brainstorming session. They must relook at the horror of the series and plan a methodical approach for red-ball cricket. Over the years, the nature of the game has drastically changed. Modern thinking has brought attack as the best form of defence. It has affected the batsmen’s ability to play quality spinners in the longer format of which opposition spinners are reaping rich benefits. Another aspect of the defeat that India need to review is their dilemma as hosts. Repeatedly, India are pressing for the same old tactic of preparing turners to exploit home advantage. It is being done with the presumption of weakness of the visiting teams against spin bowling. But when relatively unknown teams like New Zealand survive and excel in testing conditions against the best spinners in contemporary cricket, the Indian response comes through an arrogant desire of dominating opposition bowling. The choice of shots in all the three Tests would explain why the Indians were subjected to the latest ignominy. It would be better to wake up to the reality that opening up of cricketing relations through age-group cricket and the IPLhas helped the opponents prepare better for Indian conditions. India would do well to change the definition of home advantage.