When Gautam Gambhir had taken over the reigns of this Team India, from Rahul Dravid, he had big shoes to fill. After all, India had been doing so well, across formats — reaching the WTC Finals twice, making it to the ODI World Cup Final, and even winning the T20 World Cup, after a gap of 17 years.
IND vs NZ, A Forgettable Series
But the Gautam Gambhir-Rohit Sharma partnership has hardly brought any dividends for the team. Not only are we losing, but are also losing our pride. Just imagine, India lost their first Test series at home, since 2012 vs England, after a span of 18 series’. In fact, this was only the second whitewash the team suffered at home, after the infamous IND vs SA series in 2000.
The problems have not ended here for this Gambhir-Rohit duo. This IND vs NZ series loss, has opened a Pandora’s Box for our team. Since this is the first time that India lost a Test vs NZ at home, in 36 years. Rohit Sharma’s men also suffered their first-ever Test defeat in Bengaluru, in 19 years.
For the very first time, after 12 years, India has lost back-to-back Tests at home. The Kiwis also spoiled India’s stellar record at Wankhede Stadium, where they had not lost since 2012.
Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir Failed Duo
It all started with their 0-2 loss against Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka, where the the first match was tied. This was for the first time in 27 years, that India had lost to Lanka in a bilateral ODI series. If that is not enough, this was also the first time, that India lost 30 wickets in a 3-match ODI series.
Clearly, batting emerged as a big problem there, which continues till now. Yes, India has not played any ODIs after that, or had played prior to that this year, but that has brought an unwanted record for the team. This will be the first time in 45 years, that India will go winless in a calendar year, in ODIs.
