India whitewash New Zealand: The need to be realistic in a fresh start

After India’s defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, there were rumblings about the country which hosts the most prestigious and high profile T20 league having ironically fallen behind most top teams in the format. While the toss was not kind to the 2007 T20 World Cup champions – India lost the toss against New Zealand and in their opening defeat to Pakistan – their batting and a rather uncharacteristically loose fielding effort made it look like they were gasping for air against the two opponents in their group who were expected to pose a challenge.

In both matches, India’s opening combinations failed to fire. While captain Virat Kohli scored 57 against Pakistan at No.3, it came off 49 balls and he was dismissed just as he was looking to accelerate in the last four overs of the innings. Their middle order was sluggish and when it came to bowling, India could not handle the conditions and both their opponents strolled to victory.

Less than a month after that defeat to New Zealand, an Indian team missing most of their regular stars has done a 3-0 sweep on the Kiwis. However, just a cursory look at the schedules of both teams and their rosters shows that this does not reflect a miraculous turnaround for India. Members of the Indian camp themselves seemed to be under no illusions, with Rahul Dravid putting on a sober tone despite this being his first win as India’s full-time head coach.

Dravid said that India are “realistic” about the victory. (AP Photo)

“It’s nice to start well, but we are realistic and we need to keep our feet on the ground. It’s not easy for New Zealand to show up after a World Cup final and play three games in six days. We have to keep our feet on the ground and learn some things on the way forward,” said head coach Rahul Dravid said after the match.

Fan sentiments also seem to align with what Dravid said. When Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell McClenaghan said in a tweet that New Zealand lost a “meaningless series 72 hours after a WC final defeat” after the second T20I, most twitter handles with Indian names and profile pictures of Indian stars seemed to agree with him in the replies.

Did they? You mean in meaningless series 72 hours after a WC final defeat with 3 games in 5 days playing a team with 10 days rest in their home conditions? https://t.co/jldmmH58YZ

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) November 20, 2021

While most may struggle to explain in what way this series was relevant, the same can’t be said about the two Test that the two teams are now set to play. India will go in as favourites for that rubber as well, despite the fact that they suffered heavy defeats in the two-Test series that was played in New Zealand in February-March and in the inaugural World Test Championship final in June.

Beating India in a Test series at their home is among the toughest challenges in the sport, especially in the current era in which they seem to be a formidable side in almost any conditions around the world. New Zealand have never managed to do so, with their last tour ending in a 0-3 defeat. The Kiwis lost the three Test matches in the series by margins of 197 runs, 178 runs and 321 runs respectively. With odds so heavily stacked against them, challenging India, let alone managing a series win, could be argued as a better measure of New Zealand’s status as the best team in the world as opposed to a win in a one-off Test for which they had far better preparations and were in conditions they are traditionally better suited for.

New Zealand beat India by eight wickets in the WTC Final. (Reuters Photo)

And herein lies the stakes for India. They go into it without Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant; four players who have been integral to their series win in Australia earlier this year and in taking a 2-1 lead in the yet to be completed series in England. They will also be without Virat Kohli in the first Test and could possibly have to figure out a new opening combination with KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal in the fray. It will be played in Kanpur and the cool conditions can be of some assistance to New Zealand’s seamers early in the day at least.

A two-Test series is a tricky proposition and if they fall to a rather stunning defeat in the first match, it would mean that New Zealand will have managed just their third ever draw in a Test series in India, a country in which they first played back in 1955. India had reasons to believe that their status as arguably the best Test team of the current era remained untouched despite the loss in the World Test Championship but anything less than a win in the series would be a significant dent on that argument.