Written by: Dhruv • 02.01.2025
India has just lost the Melbourne Test in a pretty dramatic fashion. Leading into the final session of the match, it had seven wickets in hand, but a poorly judged shot by Rishab Pant led to a collapse and eventual defeat.
India cannot win the BGT series decisively for the first time in a decade. This represents the end of an era for India in more ways than one.
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Indian fans will remember the brilliance Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have shown over their long careers. That kind of genius has been taken for granted by Indian fans, and unfortunately, it looks as if we may have seen the end of it.
Both players have become weak links in a team where the youngsters are stepping up. The fear they used to evoke in opposition teams is no longer present.
The final Test in Sydney is more than likely going to be the last time that Indian fans will see both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the same Test team for India.
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No team has been more successful away from home than India in the last decade. A large part of that was the leadership that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri (later Rahul Dravid) brought. Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have reverted to a defensive approach, and as a result, India seems content with Draws rather than wins.
India's extreme dependence on Jasprit Bumra has also held it back. Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep have not been at their best, and the team's absolute lack of a wicket-taking spinner has hurt India.
This was not the case when Mohammad Shami, R Ashwin, and R Jadeja were at their best.
For a long time, India was known for its ability to go for the win in all situations. Gabba 2021, Lords 2021, and Centurion 2023 are some recent examples that come to mind.
In all those matches, India was ready to lose to win. They picked their team accordingly and played fearlessly. In Melbourne, we saw India put overly defensive fields for Australia's final wicket, not even attempting to score runs at any rate in the first two sessions and trying to guarantee a draw before going for a win.
That mentality shows that the era of fearlessness seems to have ended and needs to be reignited again.
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We do not doubt that India will have to reassess its entire approach to Test cricket. A 3-0 loss to New Zealand at home, followed by a BGT loss and a likely failure to reach the WTC Finals for the first time, cannot be ignored.
Jasprit Bumrah may be named the Test captain, and his workload must be managed with extreme care. India has to look deep and find the best batters from the domestic circuit to try to blood into the Test team.
The coach, Gautam Gambhir, has very little rope left but may still be around for a short time. If he is, the Test failures should not be forgotten when the whiteball season comes around.
Finally, the effect of this loss may also be seen in the ODI team that was picked for the Champions Trophy. The selectors may want to get ahead of the results they have seen in the Test Matches, even though Rohit and Virat were brilliant in the ODI World Cup 2023.
Dhruv Gupta is a seasoned cricket analyst passionate about numbers and patterns. He brings a data-driven approach to his cricket predictions. He's been following the sport for over a decade and has developed a keen eye for identifying trends and upsets. Dhruv is also on his journey to watch a Test Match at an Iconic venue in all Test Playing nations!
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