Aggression Over Patience, Substandard Batting Against Spinners and More: 4 Reasons Behind India’s Historical Whitewash

Last Update:03 November 2024 14:59 IST

New Zealand became the first team in history to win all three Tests of a three-match series in India by beating India by 26 runs in Mumbai on Sunday.

New Zealand whitewashed India in the three-match Test series. (Image Credit: AP)

New Zealand beat India by 26 runs in the third and final Test of the three-match series played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (November 3). The Rohit Sharma-led team failed to hit the target of 147 runs and managed everything in just 121 runs. The win in the third Test helped New Zealand become the first team in history to whitewash India in a three-match Test series played on Indian soil.

Indian batsmen failed to fire throughout the series and poor performances from senior players also played a major role in the team’s shocking result.

With the defeat in the last home match of 2024, India’s chances of qualifying for the WTC 2025 final are now on a knife edge.

Let’s take a look at the key reasons for India’s humiliating defeat in the three-match Test series against New Zealand:

Alarming decline in quality of batsmen and spinners

Indian batsmen put up a forgetful display in all three matches against the Kiwis and the biggest cause for concern was their performance against the spinners. Known to be excellent players against spin bowling, the Indian batsmen struggled against the tweakers throughout the series and this was one of the major reasons for the team’s first Test series defeat at home in 12 years.

Mitchell Santner, who wasn’t even New Zealand’s first choice in the Tests, plowed through India’s star-studded batting order in both innings of the 2nd Test and finished the match with figures of 13 for 291 in 48.3 overs.

Apart from him, Ajaz Patel and part-time spinner Glenn Phillips also made life difficult for the Indian players by taking wickets at regular intervals.

Aging superstars

It was a series to forget for Rohit, Kohli and Ashwin. While the Indian skipper managed to score only 91 runs in six innings, Kohli scored 93 runs in total. Of these 93 runs, he scored a solitary 70 in the second innings of the first Test played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Ravichandran Ashwin entered the series after winning the Player of the Series award against Bangladesh, but could only take nine wickets in three matches.

Ravindra Jadeja’s performance with the bat was also not up to the mark in the series, but he redeemed himself to some extent by taking 10 wickets in the third Test.

belittling new zealand

After whitewashing Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, India entered the series against New Zealand and underestimated the Kiwis, who were without the services of Kane Williamson. The Kiwis used the horses’ course approach and it benefited them. In the series opener, where conditions were a bit cloudy, three Kiwi pacers stormed India’s innings and bowled them out for 46 runs, and in the next two matches, spinners Glenn Phillips, with support from Santner and Ajaz Patel, made life difficult for the Indians.

Aggression instead of patience

India won the second Test with their aggressive approach against Bangladesh in Kanpur but it completely backfired in the home assignment against the Kiwis. Conditions in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test were tough for the batsmen, but things could have turned out in India’s favor had the batsmen opted for a patient and cautious approach rather than attacking. In the second innings of the second and third Test too, the Indian openers, especially Rohit, preferred to play aggressively instead of being a little patient and analyzing the conditions at the start of the innings.