India lost back-to-back matches against New Zealand to lose their first home Test series in 12 years. In both the games, the batting department particularly let the team down as the chance to qualify for the third World Test Championship (WTC) is in jeopardy for the Rohit Sharma-led side. Meanwhile, this is the first time New Zealand won a Test series in India. They have dominated with the ball in both matches, resulting in comfortable wins.
This was also new head coach Gautam Gambhir’s first Test series loss. They dominated Bangladesh in the last series but nothing has gone as per the plan against the Black Caps. This also put India’s preparation for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy under the scanner. Gambhir particularly has been on the receiving end of immense criticism lately but former cricketer Ravi Shastri came in his defence and expects the team to get better under the 43-year-old.
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“New Zealand have beaten them (India) handsomely in both the Test matches. It’s food for thought (on series loss). He (Gambhir) has just taken over the job. It is never easy being the coach of a team that has such a big following. It is still early days in his career as a coach. But he’ll soon learn,” Shastri said, while on commentary during the second Test in Pune.
Despite the series loss, India remains at the top of the WTC points table but by the barest of margins. They have six more games remaining in this cycle of the championship and the team will have to win the majority of the matches to confirm their place in the summit clash. However, it is not going to be an easy task as the five-match series in Australia can prove to be a difficult task.
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Ahead of that, the team will be planning to make a comeback against New Zealand in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium in Pune. Even though the series is lost, the win can give them some momentum in the WTC race.