India were steamrolled 2-0 in their Test series in New Zealand, and to many, that was something of a shock. More than the result, it was some of the performances, which was not what you come to expect from India these days.
In the first Test in Wellington, India succumbed to 165 in the first innings, and thereafter, it was all New Zealand, with Kane Williamson’s 89 setting up a 348-run total, before Tim Southee and Trent Boult took nine wickets between them to bundle India out for 191. New Zealand won by ten wickets.
India’s bowlers, for their part, did better in the next Test in Christchurch. But the batsmen once again didn’t impress. They posted 242, again batting first, and then their bowlers did well to get India back in the game, restricting New Zealand to 235. However, India then imploded for 124, and New Zealand knocked off the 132-run target without much fuss.
It wasn’t the sort of performance expected from the No.1 side in the ICC Test rankings, and below, a few flummoxed Wisden writers look at where it all went wrong for the heavyweights.
Manoj Narayan
The Indian batsmen’s vulnerabilities against swing and seam were laid bare, and with Kohli suffering one of his rare slumps, they had nowhere to hide. Unlike in England in 2018, where the repeated failures of other batsmen were masked to some extent by Kohli’s brilliance.
Credit, however, should be assigned to the New Zealand bowlers for formulating plans, even if only basic ones; they weren’t forced to think out of the box, and when the time came, they executed them with unwavering intensity.
As for India’s bowling, rated one of the best in the world, there wasn’t much room to complain in the second Test. In the first Test, a still rusty Bumrah’s inability to generate the usual level of awkward bounce hurt India a little bit, but he seemed to rediscover his bite in Christchurch.
