Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to India's first home Test series defeat in 12 years ft. Irfan Pathan
New Zealand made history by winning their first-ever Test series on Indian soil. After a convincing eight-wicket win in Bangalore, the Kiwis dominated the Pune Test and beat a strong Indian team by a huge margin of 113 runs inside three days to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
Team India had an envious run of not losing a Test series on home soil for 12 years but it took Kiwis just two matches to break the record. On that note, here is a look at the top five expert reactions to India's first home Test series defeat in 12 years.
#1 Irfan Pathan
The former Indian all-rounder congratulated New Zealand on winning the Test series on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
He also noted there was a lot to reflect on for Team India and that the senior players needed to step up and deliver in Test cricket. He addressed the next three months of action as well, which could be crucial considering India will next travel to Australia for a five-match Test series.
India will need to win four of their next six Tests to secure a place in the World Test Championship final without depending on the results of the other teams for qualification.
#2 Simon Doull
The former Kiwi pacer is well known for his sharp analysis and straightforward opinion on the game. India crumbled to spin in the Pune Test and Doull addressed the same on Sports 18. He stated (via :
"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."
He further added:
"Gone are the days of Ganguly, Gambhir, Laxman and Dravid. Sachin was so, so good against spin, and the era before them."
Notably, India lost 18 of their 20 wickets in the Pune Test to spin with Mitchell Santner picking up 13 of them.
#3 Dilip Vengsarkar
The former Indian skipper was of the view that the Indian batters did not play enough domestic cricket, hence the frequent collapses. After India's defeat to New Zealand in Pune, Vengsarkar told TOI:
"Unless you play domestic cricket, you'll not master the skills of playing spinners. I'm not talking about just playing on turning tracks, but also playing spin well. That is why it's important that everyone should be available to play domestic cricket. "
He further added:
"Also, when you have these Under-19 and India A tours on, at a time when international cricket is happening, it dilutes the importance of domestic cricket."
#4 Sanjay Manjrekar
The former Indian batter expressed his views on ESPNCricinfo post India's defeat in the Pune Test. He stated:
"The move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things shouldn't happen. It's just bizarre. That's one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of...the T20 thinking of match ups left hand-right hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players."
Manjrekar suggested that the Indian skipper needed to be cautious of his T20-like approach in Test cricket. He also opined that the team management needed to back the players' ability and not think much about the left-right combination.
#5 Aakash Chopra
The former Indian opener believes the Indian Test team is missing a player like Cheteshwar Pujara who adds solidity to the team. In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated:
"Are we missing Pujara? It's a big question actually. As a player, you might say that he would score these many runs and others would also score as many runs, so are you missing him that much? Maybe not, because at some stage you have to move beyond everyone. So you left Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in such a scenario." (2:25)
He added:
"You got Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant started playing at No. 5. So things changed a lot. Change is the rule of nature but one thing is definitely missing. No one in this team is able to do what Cheteshwar Pujara used to do. Everyone plays the same brand of cricket, that they would attack and play aggressive cricket, and have nothing to do with a draw as they play like this only. That does not work."
According to Chorpa, everyone in the Test team is presently playing an aggressive brand of cricket and no one can do what Pujara used to batting at number three.