Team India suffered a humiliating 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand; upcoming West Indies series offers chance for redemption at home.
When New Zealand arrived in India for the three-match Test series, the Blue Brigade hardly expected to lose any fixture, let alone face a 0-3 whitewash. For the three weeks against the Blackcaps, Team India had chances to show dominance. However, they slipped in crucial situations, mostly with the bat, getting exposed to the Kiwi Spinners.
What’s the secret of Test success in India? It’s simply putting over 450 runs on the board in the first innings and laying down the winning platform. If a team is bowling first, the aim will be to get a huge lead in the first innings and avoid a big chase on the fourth and fifth days. And that’s exactly what the Rohit Sharma-led side lacked in those 20 days.
Only once, India crossed the 300+ run mark during those six innings. Apart from that, they couldn’t go beyond 160 thrice in the series. The series result was anticipated. Since the beginning of 2013, India featured in 56 Test matches at home and faced only seven defeats. Out of those, three consecutive defeats came against the Blackcaps.
Read More: India have won 34.61 pc of their Tests in SENA nations in last 5 years, as against 14.19 pc earlier
Most wins for Test Teams at home since Jan 2013
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | W/L |
| England | 85 | 50 | 23 | 12 | 2.173 |
| Australia | 62 | 44 | 08 | 10 | 5.500 |
| India | 56 | 42 | 07 | 07 | 6.000 |
| South Africa | 56 | 39 | 13 | 04 | 3.000 |
| New Zealand | 52 | 32 | 10 | 10 | 3.200 |
India’s continuous spin struggle in home Tests concerns management
During the golden unbeaten streak in home Tests for India, their batters continuously posted huge scores on the board. And to do so, they collected a truck-load of runs against the opponent spinners. Whenever they failed to achieve that, they ended up losing the contest. It’s that simple.
During the Pune Test of the BGT 2016/17, India’s batters had no answer to Steve O’Keefe. Earlier last year, in Hyderabad, the two-time WTC runners-up couldn’t read Tom Hartley. And on both occasions, they ended up facing defeats.
Against New Zealand in the home red-ball series, none of the India batters had an average of over 30 against spinners apart from Rishabh Pant. The wicket-keeper batter collected 198 runs at 49.50 while the second best, Yashasvi Jaiswal, ended with an average of 25.60. Out of the six innings, the Mumbai batter got dismissed by spin five times in that series.
Read More: Why workload management is crucial for Jasprit Bumrah
India batters’ performance against New Zealand spinners in 2024 Test series
| Player | Inns | Runs | Outs | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s |
| R Pant | 05 | 198 | 04 | 49.50 | 104.76 | 03 | 00 |
| Y Jaiswal | 05 | 128 | 05 | 25.60 | 91.43 | 01 | 00 |
| S Gill | 04 | 118 | 04 | 29.50 | 54.38 | 01 | 00 |
| R Jadeja | 04 | 100 | 04 | 25.00 | 56.50 | 00 | 00 |
| R Pant | 05 | 93 | 04 | 23.25 | 70.45 | 01 | 00 |
It’s not an issue for one series. It has been going on for a long time. Among active cricketers, since the start of 2023, during the home Tests, Jaiswal has the best average of 73.09. The next best in the list, Shubman Gill, has faced a huge gap. Another aspect of the table is their dismissals. Ravindra Jadeja, third on the list, got out to the opponent’s spin bowling 16 out of the 17 times.
Active India’s batters’ Test performance against spinners at home since Jan 2023
| Player | Inns | Runs | Outs | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s |
| Y Jaiswal | 16 | 804 | 11 | 73.09 | 88.94 | 04 | 02 |
| S Gill | 18 | 623 | 14 | 44.50 | 56.18 | 07 | 00 |
| R Jadeja | 17 | 443 | 16 | 27.69 | 44.79 | 03 | 00 |
| A Patel | 09 | 335 | 05 | 67.00 | 53.95 | 03 | 00 |
| R Pant | 09 | 295 | 06 | 49.17 | 99.66 | 04 | 00 |
India’s quest to develop spin bowling and spin batting after dejected New Zealand series
Under Gill’s leadership, India batted well in England. The series scoreline of 2-2 could have been different had they won a few more crucial moments in those seven weeks. But back home, against the West Indies side, it will be a different challenge.
The first and foremost job for the management will be to prepare their batters well against the spinners. Once they do it, the national side will be able to post a huge score on the board. Their head coach Gautam Gambhir’s role will be vital in this route to give the batters the best advice. It will also be a sharp turnaround for a few players from the scheduled Asia Cup final on September 28 to the opening Test on October 02.
On top of it, their spinners will also need to apply them better. The West Indies side is known for its aggression. There will be times when they perhaps look to smash the big shots around the park. However, India’s spinners will need to have the best game plan for the situation.
During the Test series last year against the Blackcaps, it was a tough time for India’s spin bowlers. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were decent with 16 wickets at an average of 21.56 and 14.12, respectively. Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin, who averaged 41.22, retired from international cricket a month later.
Read More: Mohammed Siraj set a prime example by the effort (185.3 overs) he put in ATT 2025
India spinners’ performance vs New Zealand in 2024 Test series
| Player | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI |
| R Jadeja | 06 | 16 | 21.56 | 37.94 | 5/55 |
| W Sundar | 04 | 16 | 14.12 | 26.56 | 7/59 |
| R Ashwin | 06 | 09 | 41.22 | 65.33 | 3/63 |
| K Yadav | 02 | 03 | 41.67 | 43.00 | 3/99 |
Kuldeep Yadav has bowled well in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 with the right pace. But can he replicate the same show in the longest format? For the Central Zone during the Duleep Trophy 2025, the wrist spinner returned with match figures of 0/97 against the North East Zone.
It will be an acid test for Gambhir not to replicate the same mistake as last year. West Indies could perhaps be a comparatively easy opposition, but India can’t take anyone for granted. The opening game will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 02. Later, the focus will shift to Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 10.
Read More: Series-defining efforts which epitomised excellence in ATT 2025
