Guwahati: A clueless Indian team, which seemed lacking in both skills and resolve, surrendered to its biggest defeat in terms of runs, losing the second Test to South Africa by a whopping 408 runs here on Wednesday, giving the visitors their first series triumph in the country in 25 years.
This was the second time in a space of mere 13 months that India ended up whitewashed at home, severely denting their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship.
Under head coach Gautam Gambhir, India have now lost five Tests against New Zealand and South Africa at home. It is also the first time in 66 years that the team has lost 5 Tests in a space of seven months.
A chase of 549 was never possible but what one expected was a semblance of fight which wasn’t there on a day five Indian track presenting itself in all its might on which the ball bounced like a hissing snake and turned as if on a hairpin Himalayan bend.
Marco Jansen, who played the perfect all-rounder in this Test match, took a one-handed stunner to skittle India for 140 in 63.5 overs and give the Temba Bavuma-led side a victory to cherish for a long time.
Courtesy Gambhir’s inexplicable tactics and selection calls, the aura of invincibility that once accompanied the team at home lay in tatters at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on a slightly nippy Wednesday afternoon.
Gambhir’s obsession with bits and pieces cricketers in the traditional format has left them team in a flux with none of the players sure about their places and roles in the team.
The impact of this defeat will have far reaching implications in terms of confidence and pysche of the red-ball team going forward.
It wasn’t an easy pitch to survive on but the poor technique was disappointing along with the inability to read the drift, not playing with a soft bottom hand and a completely non-existent backfoot play.
In the end, lack of planning was evident and for the time, India look easily conquerable at home.(PTI)
