The beginning of the end: Wankhede dust bath leaves India in search of at least a band-aid for gushing wounds
Roughly two years ago, Team India were battling on a Dhaka dust bowl while chasing 145 and were reduced to 74-7. With pride of never losing a red-ball clash to Bangladesh, the prospect of featuring in the WTC finals, and a lot more to play for, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer braved the spin onslaught and guided India to victory by three wickets.
Now, the very same Ashwin, with all his experience, played an ill-fated reverse sweep that led to his demise in the dying stages of the third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium on November 3.
The circumstances, and more importantly stakes, were similar. Playing for pride to avoid a whitewash, still in the reckoning for a WTC spot, and playing on home turf. In the end, the very place that became India's shrine 12 years ago became India's grave, with the hosts doing most of the digging themselves.
A 3-0 whitewash devoid of positives has left India dizzying and a contrasting state of affairs might be in amok in Australia. The displays in Pune and Mumbai especially must have encouraged Pat Cummins to have a chat with the curators and line up the Lyon, Murphy, and Kuhnemann gang again.
A dark day in the history of Indian cricket amid a major transition rings all kinds of alarms and sirens. With the hanging question being - is this the worst, or is it yet to come?
Far from home despite being at home
The fact that New Zealand players looked far more comfortable in subcontinent conditions than Team India, might just be the most nagging takeaway. Their application, preparation and adaptiveness were far superior, which begs the question, how did it transpire? When did the hunter become the hunted?
India's struggles against spin have been quite well-documented in recent times but this set of displays is the exclamation mark that is unavoidable.
Recently, India were completely skittled out by spin in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. That was cast away as an anomaly, a one-off, but who knew it was menacing foreshadowing at its best.
The new coaching staff was right away presented with the question of whether India's spin-playing credentials were waning. Assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, on both occasions (in Colombo and Pune) asserted that India does not have a problem against spin.
"That's a bit of a harsh statement. When you're trying to achieve something, there's always going to be a time when you take a certain dip because you're trying to play cricket in a different way and you're trying to push yourself out of the comfort zone,” said Nayar in the pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test.
A few days later, Simon Doull, in his usual ruthless fashion, called out the 'modern' India batters for their abysmal application against spin bowling.
"I think it is a misconception around the world now that these modern Indian players are better playing spin than anyone else. They are not. They are the same as everyone else around the world," Doull said on Jio Cinema.
The problem can only begin to be resolved if the problem is admitted and acknowledged in the first place. Diplomatic comments on one side, and problem resolving on the other.
There is a notion that coaches do not have much of a say in the proceedings when it comes to cricket. If that theory is valid then are the defeats against Sri Lanka and New Zealand a coincidence as Rahul Dravid left at just the right time before everything crumbled?
Regardless of how much impact they hold, Gambhir and the coaching staff have a huge task on their hands to reverse the fortunes, and not force Indian cricket to an era that has more or less been forgotten.
Do India have a problem with their foundation amid transition?
Even after more than a year of the new transition, there are still question marks over plenty of things. Is Gill the long-term No. 3? Who are Rohit and Virat's successors? Should the team persist with this intent-based method? There are several other questions, but the biggest one might be the Gill one, potentially the elephant in the room.
Although Gill at No. 3 may have churned out the runs, he has not shown the assurance that is a non-negotiable mandatory for Dravid and Pujara's heir. He made the adjustment, and a genuine effort to meet the ball well ahead of his pads, but the element of conviction is still missing from his game, a hazardous trait for a No.3.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain had leveled Ollie Pope as a 'feast or famine' player, and India's very own No. 3 is also not too far off. Gill has lacked conviction, especially at the start of his innings. Since his stint at No. 3, he has been dismissed below 30 a total of 14 times while recording three tons and two fifties in the same timeframe.
While his average reads 50 for the year, it hardly feels like he has batted with the assurance of someone with a healthy average. His batting did not exude that kind of confidence, with the vibe of a walking wicket being more prevalent.
Visiting batters have found much better ways to survive on turning tracks and dealing against spin than Indian players in recent times.
The notion that the sweep is an attacking option, only used for run-scoring must be revisited by India if they wish to succeed on similar pitches. The visiting batters have used sweeps and reverse sweeps to such extent to defend, survive, manipulate the field and even attack.
In contrast, the Indian batters are stuck at the same old move forward-get behind either-or maneuver and often make the wrong choice.
The Indian first-team pool in general is a blend of experience and youth. While this is encouraged, the problem here is that too many players are placed at either end of the spectrum, and there is no balance at all.
Has intent poisoned the mindset?
Intent has been such a used phrase lately, bordering on jargon, but unavoidable in modern-day cricket. It is unfair to call out the method, only weeks after hailing it when it delivered a result in Pune. The fact about intent is that it needs a bit of refinement.
The lack of right execution and the wrong time to showcase intent, are perhaps the issues at hand rather than the concept of intent itself. Pant, rife with intent, was arguably India's best batter in the series, which goes to show that if done right, it is a viable approach to yield results.
During the run chase, going for a high-risk, high-reward shot could have been considered after a point of time where the score was deemed safe. When it backfired, it put pressure on the team, and considering India's tendency to collapse of late, it only takes a puff of wind to bring down a house of cards.
Whether it be Yashasvi Jaiswal's ill-fated reverse sweep in the first innings or Rohit Sharma's equally dubious pull shot in the second innings, there should be more accountability considering the fragile state of affairs.
While Rohit's early assaults in white-ball cricket set the tempo, in red-ball cricket, it is sending across the wrong kind of message. With the form that he and the rest of the batters are in, it just leaves them exposed well earlier than they ideally should be.
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It was a tour of Australia in 2011 under similar circumstances that brought an end to Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Dravid found himself getting castled in all ways imaginable and Laxman had also lost his sheen by then.
An eerily similar situation is on the precipice, with the lack of even a glimmer of a positive being the gravest of all issues. While they will be spared of the spin barrage, a perhaps even more intimidating challenge in the form of an Australian pace trio on hostile surfaces will be on show.
With the veteran duo finding new ways to get out with each innings, a huge call needs to be taken regarding their future in the red-ball team. Radical measures like a return to domestic cricket or dropping/'rested' for a series come to mind. All the while hoping that the bad patch can be overturned by one good innings, hopefully, driven by pride, ego, and competitiveness, which are not hard to find on Australian soil.
To conclude, if the faithful Mumbai crowd was asked what stung more - the grueling heat or the result, you can expect a unanimous verdict in favor of the result.
While there is a feeling of anguish involved, it is largely consumed by numbness. The latter dominated the former with each passing wicket, leading to resignation in the end, and that might just be the biggest point to reflect in the aftermath of the series.
The team can make the fans sad (that is sort of a given), even angry (again, comes with the nature of sport) but the line is crossed when it makes its fans numb.