Indian cricket's home truths: When attack becomes the best form of defence

The series loss to New Zealand has laid bare a fundamental question: Is T20 batting ethos proliferating into Test cricket?

Virat Kohli, the modern-day batting virtuoso, has a star-studded resume — one that also includes being part of two of India’s three lowest-ever scores in Test cricket.

 

As the forlorn captain, he was in the thick of action when his team suffered its lowest-ever score — 36 all out —against Australia in Adelaide four years ago. Indian batters sank to the depths of misery yet again in the just concluded Test series against New Zealand.

 

Under the cloudy forenoon skies in Bengaluru last month, New Zealand’s pace trio comprising Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke ran through India’s batting like a hot knife through butter. India could only muster 46, their lowest tally at home. They did not have the stomach for a fight in the subsequent Test match in Pune as well.

 

On a raging turner, New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner prised open India’s vaulted batting, scalping 13 wickets. Things came to boil in the third Test in Mumbai, when the hosts, in pursuit of 147, were dismissed for 121.

 

New Zealand, never counted among the poster boys of international cricket, exposed India’s fragility, hubris, and incompetence, to notch up a scarcely believable 3-0 triumph. In doing so, they ended India’s 12-year, 18-series impregnable domination at home.

 

The result potentially complicates India’s World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification. They now have to beat Australia 4-0 in the upcoming five-match Test series in Australia to qualify for the WTC final. India’s meek surrender was brought about by their batters’ abject display. Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma, looked jaded and bereft of ideas, while youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan and Shubman Gill were underprepared.

 

At the core, this series loss has laid bare a fundamental question: Is T20 batting ethos proliferating into Test cricket?

 

In this age of the Indian Premier League (IPL), patience is no longer a virtue for Indian batters. One rarely sees a defensive shot being played by them. Leaving deliveries outside the off-stump is frowned upon; attack is the best and only form of defence, and impetuosity has crept into shot selection.

 

Sadly, the good old-world virtues have given way to power game and range hitting. It is a broader generational problem in which the T20 format is working against Test match batting skills. It is a deep-rooted malaise that has afflicted India’s premier batters, and worryingly, there are no antidotes available. This is why we are witnessing implosions like 36 all out and 46 all out so frequently.

 

According to seasoned cricket writer Gideon Haigh, five of Test cricket’s lowest scores have come since 2010. Not surprisingly, it has coincided with the rise of T20 and franchise cricket. Team India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, acknowledged the adverse impact of white-ball cricket during a press conference in Pune last month.

 

“It completely comes down to T20 cricket, that’s about it. The more T20 cricket is played, the lesser people will defend,” Gambhir said.

 

“Sometimes you’re so used to muscling the ball that you end up forgetting the soft hands and all that stuff which probably used to happen 8 or 10 years ago. I think we need to keep defending better, especially on a turning track, because if you have confidence in your defence, a lot of things can be sorted out,” he elaborated.

 

With the WTC final qualification on the line, the Indian team is staring at an existential question: What constitutes their home advantage? India is no longer the insurmountable bastion it was in the 1990s and early 2000s that had prompted former Australia captain Stephen Waugh to famously term it the “final frontier”.

 

The emergence of the IPL has meant that marquee players from across the globe visit India at least once a year. The cash-rich T20 league has shrunk the cricketing map, stripping India of its mystique, aura, and intrigue. Nevertheless, one should not discount what New Zealand achieved on these shores earlier this month. Without their talismanic player Kane Williamson, New Zealand tamed India 3-0 in their own backyard. This would go down as one of the greatest achievements in New Zealand’s cricketing history, on a par with their 2021 WTC win.

 

Santner summed it up aptly when he said: “We beat them (India) at their own game. We outspun and outplayed them in their own conditions.”