NEW DELHI: India suffered their worst home series defeat in their entire Test history on Sunday when they were whitewashed by New Zealand in the three-match series. It was their first 0-3 drubbing at home and it ended their storied 12 years home dominance. India had a stunning run of 18 successive home series wins before they were inflicted to this historic series defeat.
The loss came as a big blow for India, who are aiming for a spot in the World Test Championship final for third successive editions. India also dropped to second in the current WTC standings behind defending champions Australia after the defeat.
The focus for India is now shifted to the much-awaited and all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy later in the month. The upcoming five-match series has become even more important for India after the New Zealand debacle.
With the other contenders for the WTC final spot gearing for the final push, India will need a series win Down Under with a historic margin to secure the coveted spot.
The 0-3 thrashing at home has opened up the WTC final race quite a bit. Sri Lanka at third position followed by New Zealand and South Africa are all in the mix now.
India now need four wins from the five matches remaining in the current WTC cycle to secure the final spot. Any other result in the BGT will require favourable results from other teams to qualify for the WTC final. A very tough task from the team, who are not in form.
What Team India can hope is that a change in playing conditions can benefit their famed batting line-up. It has been observed in recent times that India batters are more comfortable playing in pacey conditions than turning pitches.
India have already announced their squad for the BGT, which is scheduled to start from 22 November at Perth. The pace-dominated side is expected to produce a favourable result for the team in Australia.
India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
The BGT 2024-25 Schedule
22 Nov 2024: India vs Australia, 1st Test in Perth6 Dec 2024: India vs Australia, 2nd Test in Adelaide14 Dec 2024: India vs Australia, 3rd Test in Brisbane26 Dec 2024: India vs Australia, 4th Test in Melbourne3 Jan 2025: India vs Australia, 5th Test in Sydney
