Glory to gloom: The fall of India's Test cricket supremacy

Indian cricket fans are still reeling from the team's dismal 1-3 defeat in the five-match Test series against Australia. Once dominant in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and having secured historic victories against a strong Australian side in the past decade, India failed to deliver this time, exposing the vulnerabilities of a team long considered invincible.

The series highlighted glaring issues for the Indian team – the Indian batsmen struggled, while Jasprit Bumrah was the only bowler who posed any trouble for the Australians. The loss not only saw India lose the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy but also cost them a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, breaking their streak of consecutive final appearances in 2021 and 2023, where they lost to New Zealand and Australia, respectively.

India’s recent form is worrying - they have lost six of their last eight Test matches, including a 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand. These losses have raised questions about the team’s depth, the future of key players such as captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli, and their ability to rebuild.

With the team in transition and veterans fading, Indian Test cricket faces a formidable challenge in maintaining its legacy in a rapidly changing landscape. India's next red-ball challenge is a five-match Test series in England starting in July. England conditions, notorious for dramatic changes even within the same match, will test the players' technique, skill, and adaptability to the maximum. India has not won a series in England since 2007, with only two previous victories (1971 and 1986), highlighting the enormity of the task ahead. Furthermore, recent failures against New Zealand and Australia leave the selectors with difficult choices to make when picking players and team combinations for this crucial battle.

The selectors' biggest headache is the poor form of Sharma and Kohli in Australia and earlier against New Zealand. Sharma scored a paltry 31 runs in three Tests in Australia, with his poor form leading to his exclusion from the final game. Kohli fared slightly better, scoring 190 runs in nine innings, but 100 of his runs came in one knock. His dismissals followed a pattern – caught in the slips or behind the wicket – suggesting a clear technical deficiency or mental fatigue under pressure. Since January 2024, Sharma has scored just 619 runs in 16 Tests with one century. Kohli’s numbers are even worse with time – averaging just 32 in Tests since 2020 with only two centuries.

Sharma, once a late-blooming Test opener and a dazzling match-winner, is now struggling to find his ideal batting position. Meanwhile, Kohli, after a decade of dominance and swagger, is in a prolonged slump that has brought the former cricketing giant down to earth. From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar to Kohli, the baton of Indian batting greatness has been passed smoothly. But Kohli’s worthy successor remains elusive.

KL Rahul has the talent but lacks the desire to consistently score big runs. Rishabh Pant is an exciting maverick, equally capable of winning or losing a match. Shubman Gill has been hailed as the next ‘big thing’, but despite his undeniable pedigree, he has struggled overseas and needs careful nurturing. Punjab’s young left-hander Abhishek Sharma is highly rated under the tutelage of Yuvraj Singh, while Nitesh Kumar Reddy impressed with his fearless approach under tough conditions on his debut in Australia.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, India's highest-scoring Test batsman in this series, stands out amongst the young batsmen. With his flamboyance, patience, technical assurance, and explosive strokeplay, he looks ready to be Kohli's successor as the team's talisman. India is well-stocked in all departments. Jasprit Bumrah took 32 wickets against Australia, cementing his status as a pace bowling colossus. Backed by Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and a dozen promising fast bowlers, India possesses a potent pace arsenal in all formats.

Nevertheless, Bumrah is a once-in-a-generation talent, and his workload needs to be managed carefully. Overworking him, as was done in the Australian series, could lead to breakdowns, thus hampering the attack. Shami, too, needs to be handled carefully after a long rehabilitation. Together, they form one of the most potent pace bowling combinations in modern cricket. With the sudden retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s underwhelming performance in Australia, India’s spin depth looks thin. However, Washington Sundar has shown promise at home, while young spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Tanush Kotian, who joined the squad midway through the Australian series, are knocking on the doors of Test cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is moving swiftly to address the transition period after the recent losses to New Zealand and Australia. Selectors have been instructed to pick potential Test players from the second round of the domestic Ranji Trophy, which resumes on January 23. All players, including Sharma and Kohli, are likely to be asked to play domestic cricket – a move that could help them regain their form.

Managing a team in transition presents complex challenges, requiring patience, empathy, and a clear vision. Hasty reactions or external pressure could exacerbate the situation rather than provide solutions. Whether Sharma and Kohli can overcome their crisis remains to be seen, but India’s rich talent pool should be able to dispel the gloom currently surrounding Indian cricket.

It is worth remembering that after winning the ODI World Cup in 2011, India was whitewashed 4-0 in Test series against England and Australia. Cricket seemed to have hit rock bottom. But, within months, led by young talents such as Kohli, Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Jadeja, and Ashwin, India rose to become the top team in the world and remained so for nearly a decade.