With a 0-3 Test series whitewash against New Zealand, the Indian cricket team’s supremacy on home soil finally came to an end on Sunday, November 3. After losing Test matches in Pune and Bengaluru, the final nail in the Indian cricket team’s coffin was put by New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as they lost the third Test by 25 runs. Consequently, India’s dominance in WTC standings took a hit as they fell to second place with 58.33 percentage points (PCT).
Considering that India recently defeated Bangladesh with ease in two Test matches at home, apart from New Zealand suffering big defeats in Sri Lanka, the odds for their upcoming Test series were heavily in favour of the hosts. But Team India tremendously fell flat under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir’s coaching. They appear inconsistent with the bat and ball in all three Test matches. With that, India lost all three matches of the Test series at home for the first-time ever.
In this article, SportsTiger analyses three reasons why India lost the third test vs New Zealand in Mumbai:
Difficult pitch to bat against New Zealand spinners
Wankhede Stadium’s pitch has been difficult for batting in Test matches in recent times with spin bowling dominating the proceedings. However, the Indian batters were not quite able to come up with plans to put together consistent partnerships against New Zealand, crumbling to 121-run total in pursuit of the 147-run target in the second innings. Kiwi bowlers Glenn Phillips and Ajaz Patel were instrumental in Indian batting’s demise in the Mumbai Test, with the latter picking up 11 wickets in the game.
Unable to play as a unit in all three Tests
Although this was the third Test match of the series, India still failed to apply themselves at their best level with the bat, ball, and in the field as a unit in Mumbai against New Zealand. The visitors understood the conditions better, handled Indian bowlers well, and also caught Indian batsmen off guard with ball in hand. Since Indian senior players were already having difficulty facing the New Zealand spinners, the visitors made the best use of the turning pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Rohit and Kohli failed to lead by example
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli missed their chance to lead by example as they failed in both innings in the Mumbai Test versus New Zealand. While Rohit Sharma losing his wicket to pacer Matt Henry after scoring 18 and 11 in both innings on a turning pitch, Virat Kohli scored only 4 and 1 in both innings, finding it difficult to negotiate the Kiwi spinners in tough conditions, and it led to the Indian cricket team succumbing to their third straight Test defeat.