Cheteshwar Pujara criticizes India’s home Test loss against SA, calling the “transition phase” excuse unacceptable and emphasizing for stronger execution.
Team India’s recent 30-run defeat to South Africa in the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata has drawn much flak from all quarters. The usually soft-spoken Cheteshwar Pujara, who not so long ago held fort as India’s No. 3 in Tests, minced no words criticising India’s fourth loss in last six home Tests. He said that the Indian team losing in India because of the ‘transition phase’ cannot be digested.
“If India lose in England and Australia due to the transition phase, it is still acceptable. But the talent and potential that India has, look at the first-class records of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill. Despite those first-class records, if we lose in India, it means that something is wrong,” Pujara added.
Pujara has a valid point. Post the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Tests, India went with a new-look young Test squad under the captaincy of Shubman Gill for a five-match Test series in England. The team did well to draw a hard-fought series 2-2 where all the five Tests went to day five. It looked India have moved on from RO-KO and can bank on the youngsters to do well in Tests at home as well.
However, apart from a 2-0 Test series win at home against lower-ranked West Indies, India’s frailty against quality spinners from opposition camp was exposed by South Africa in the Eden Gardens Test.
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Skills to play spin on turning tracks around the world have definitely gone down, but this kind of batting from India shows how much our own ability has dropped too. Soft hands, wrist work,all of it has declined drastically.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 16, 2025
Could it be India’s declining skills against quality spin bowling?
Former cricketers didn’t hesitate to lambast India for declining skill sets against spinners at home. Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that India were considered masters of playing spin but this art has vanished on turning tracks. “Our skill as Indian batters against spin, the ability to use soft hands and wrists — has dropped sharply. There is no debate about this,” he added.
Hence, we see India’s batting falling like a pack of cards against quality spinners from the opposition camp. Last year, India suffered a rare 0-3 Test series whitewash against New Zealand at home as Kiwi spinners Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santer exposed India’s falling skills against quality spinners on turning tracks. “Looks like we haven’t learned our lesson from the NZ series loss. The gap between our spinners and opposition spinners reduces on pitches like this,” former India’s Test opener Wasim Jaffer said.
Besides the skill sets, critics also questioned India batters’ approach to overhaul the 124-run target at Eden Gardens. Pathan said India batters were too defensive, and should have adopted an aggressive batting style. “If you need around 125 runs in the final innings, then at least two of your top seven batters must think positively, think of rotating strike, applying pressure on the bowlers. Two partnerships, and the match ends. That’s it,” he said.
Read More: Kolkata Test loss shows India didn’t learn anything from home series loss against NZ in 2024
Questionable selections
However, critics also called out India’s questionable selections so far. They claim India’s focus on all-rounders in Tests rather than specialists for specific positions have been their bane. For example, India dropped a specialist No 3 Sai Sudharsan, who made 87 and 39 in his last two Test innings, in favour of an extra spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, while all-rounder Sundar was promoted to No 3 in the Eden Gardens Test. Although Sundar played well in both innings, the lack of specialists for specific positions in Test cricket came to haunt India.
“First New Zealand, now this. Preference to all-rounders over specialists. Lack of robust gameplan for home Test matches. Absence of understanding of pacing an innings in the longest format. Performance on flat tracks of England aside, disappointing returns otherwise,” former Gujarat cricketer Priyank Panchal said.
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Gambhir blames India’s batters
Meanwhile, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir blamed India’s batters for failing to apply themselves to chase down the target, and said there were no demons on the pitch. “I still believe that irrespective of how the wicket was, 123 (124) was chaseable. And I felt that if you are willing to put your head down and if you have a solid defence, if you have the temperament, you can definitely score runs,” he said.
So, what is the way forward?
Losing four home Tests in the last six matches is not acceptable, especially after India had an impeccable record at home under Virat Kohli previously. Transition or no transition, India have a few worries on their hands in terms of team selections – over-reliance on all-rounders rather than specialists, batters’ skill sets against quality spin, and a mindset that will help them sail over recent hiccups in home Tests.
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