India Lost Test Series in Australia After 10 Years: What Went Wrong

January 5, 2025 Rakesh K. Pandey #GautamGambhir, #IndianCricket, #JaspritBumrah, #ScottBoland, #WTCFinal, BorderGavaskarTrophy, INDvsAUS, PatCummins

India Lost Test Series in Australia For The First Time In A Decade: Take a Look at How The Absence of Bumrah, The strategic blunders And Australia’s Nearly Flawless Performance Contributed to India’s Downfall in Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Full Score card

India’s reign in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy came to a crashing end during the 5th and final test when Australia beat India by six wickets thus giving them a 3-1 win over the series. This victory marked a significant turning point as it was the first instance in the last decade where India lost the series. The defeat also led to India getting disqualified from the WTC finals that are to be held in Lord’s where South Africa will go up against Australia.

Bumrah’s Absence: A Great Loss

Jasprit Bumrah was the best player for India during the series as he picked up 32 wickets in just 5 games. He stirred up a lot of trouble for Australian batsman who had to face him due to his capacity for a sure shot breakthrough, when needed. No wonder then, Bumrah won the Player of the Series award for his performance that comprised of numerous match saving bowling spells and registered the highest number for an Indian bowler in any away Test series.

3rd and result day of the final test match on Sunday saw the Indian bowlers making do without Bumrah, and it was clear his absence was sorely felt. While trying to fill in for him Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj did not manage to keep up the intensity. While Krishna got three wickets in each inning, both his and Siraj’s inconsistency enabled the Australian batsmen to take control. Without Bumrah’s pinpoint and pressurised mindset, it was extremely hard for India to lessen Australia’s chances.

Australia’s Bowlers Steal the Show

As other players on the Indian side were left in a disadvantageous position due to Bumrah’s absence, Australian bowlers made up for it by performing at a high level. Scott Boland starred throughout the match as he managed to take 6 wickets while giving away 45 runs in the second inning of India . Boland’s precision and ability to use the conditions to his advantage made both life and conditions hard for the Indian batsmen and the 10 wickets that he took throughout the match ensured that Australia took the match home.

Similar to Boland, Pat Cummins captain of Australia also performed effectively throughout the series. In the series he took a total of 25 wickets and proved to be a nuisance for the Indian batting lineup. In the 3rd day of final match on Sunday, Cummins took charge early where he dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar one after the other in quick succession. Boland And Cummins together proved to be a deadly duo for the Indian batting order.

India’s Batting Struggles Continue

The Indian batting lineup had always struggled throughout the series but it was during the last match the extent of the struggle was made apparent. On day 3 the Indian batting lineup managed to only make a total of 157 runs which set the Australian side a target of only 162 runs to chase which was quite low. The top order failed to provide a solid foundation, and the middle order crumbled under pressure, except the quick half century of . Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja were expected to perform well and build up their innings but they ended up letting down the Indian side

Overall, except for some brilliant knocks made by Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant during the the series, Indian batting has been far from a consistent one. An over-reliance on a few key players made it vulnerable, especially when those key players such as captain Rohit Sharma did not deliver.

Question Mark on Gautam Gambhir’s Plan

Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as head coach has proven to be a poor and controversial decision till now due to the new direction that has been forced into the team. Gambhir has been under the Fire due to some decisions he was forced to make including team selection alongside match tactics. For instance, the decision to play 3 seamers in the last test against Australia backfired

India has recently suffered multiple losses under him , including the test series in Australia

ODI series loss to Sri Lanka (0-2).
Test series loss to New Zealand (0-3).
And now the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (1-3).

While the above results are all alarming enough by themselves, the Indian team’s lack in strategy and execution shines through the most. The tactics that have us accustomed to from Gambhir has always been rather bold in nature, but when performing under pressure, they tend to break down, which is what we are currently witnessing as the team tries to catch up to difficult situations.

India Misses Out on World Test Championship Final

The outcome of the Border-Gavaskar series led to India dropping out of the competition for the WTC final. (See the WTC Point Table). Australia has sealed the spot and will play South Africa at Lord’s in June.

The Road Ahead for India

The India team will consider this loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as a setback, but this will assist them with some directions in the future. To begin building on a more reliable team in the future, the India team must begin devising strategies on how they will be able to limit their dependency on single-handed key players. It will become increasingly important to groom young bowlers to support Bumrah and strengthen the middle order.