In just a bit more than a year, India's dominance in Test cricket has been shattered twice in a very loud manner. It was 3-0 when New Zealand ended India’s 12-year streak of home series last year. On Wednesday (November 26), South Africa became the first side to depart India with a clean sweep and only the second to complete such a feat in India. The outcome is definitely a raise of a serious concern.
It is worth noting that both the losses happened during Gautam Gambhir’s stint as head coach. Nevertheless, he maintains that the two incidents should not be compared.
Gambhir conveyed that the team which lost to New Zealand was very mature, while the present team is quite young.
“First of all, the series against New Zealand – we had a very different side," Gambhir said on Wednesday. “And this is a very different side. I’m sure you (media) guys cover a lot of cricket, and I’m sure when you see this batting line-up compared to that batting line-up, the experience that that team had versus what this team has is chalk and cheese."
“So comparing everything to New Zealand is probably a wrong narrative. You’ve got four or five players – I don’t give excuses, I’ve never done that in the past, and I will never do it in the future as well – but if you see, four or five batters in this top eight have literally played less than 15 Test matches," he added.
Also Read | South Africa humble India with record home defeat to complete Test series whitewash
Gambhir defended the players by explaining that most of them are new to Test cricket and are still learning how to absorb pressure.
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