India left to ponder over shattered home invincibility

There'll come a time when the dust settles, and both India and New Zealand get around to make sense of what just happened in Pune. India's glorious streak coming to an end against a team that had won as many as they did in this series as they had in 12 previous series, dating back to 1955 was something few would have seen coming. This New Zealand team had seen a change in captaincy following a 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka, had lost their most experienced and accomplished batter in Kane Williamson to injury and were up against a team that had been on top of the World Test Championship table, and gunning for a third straight spot in the final.

If you're someone who ranks upsets in cricket, this one would put in a hard fight for the top spot.

Not for nothing then was Latham left searching for words to put the result in perspective, for there was a lot to unpack. A week ago he was smiling cheekily after admitting that he'd have batted first too in Bengaluru - a move that had cost India the first Test. Instead, Latham saw his pacers bowling India out for their lowest Test score at home, a young batter seizing the game against senior spinners before they thwarted a valiant comeback attempt with the second new ball. That Test result alone could lay claim to be on top of New Zealand's away Test wins.

But then you add Pune. Now this was a track that was unlike Bengaluru, where the conditions were little more closer to home. Here it would spin from 'ball one' was the verdict before the toss. The experience of New Zealand's combined spin attack in Tests was less than either of Ashwin or Jadeja.

Yet, Mitchell Santner single-handedly managed to outbowl them across two innings. Their batters had managed to put the experienced duo under pressure with their variety of shot-making, including the sweep, while Santner's straight-lines and pace-changes paid off more than Ashwin-Jadeja. Here too Latham had the advantage of winning the toss, but this was India being outplayed at their own game. They had picked up cues from India to outdo them. If Bengaluru ranks high on New Zealand's way Test wins, Pune ought to rank higher.

And it may not have had the thrill of a finish like India's in Gabba, but the achievement was no less similar. New Zealand have made it a habit of outgunning India in major moments. The 2019 World Cup semifinal, the WTC final in 2021 were all products of a team that was hitting its own peak. 2024's was a team in transition themselves, and might just be the moment to kickstart a few future generation of the country's greats.

On the other hand, for India, there'd be some hard questions to put to some of their senior players. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have had nothing to show for barring fifties in Bengaluru. Ashwin has had a rare poor home series, and has already seen Washington Sundar come in to make a mark. They too are a team in transition, and it has shown amply over the last two years where they've lost four home Tests. Result-oriented pitches in the WTC era have played a part in reducing the gap between them and other teams in some ways, but slowly and surely, the halo has been broken away.

Rohit chose to tread cautiously at the end of the Pune Test, and coming to his team's defence at a low point.

"Out of the 54 Test matches, we have won 42 test matches. That's nearly 80% of the Test matches we have won. So, there are more good things that has happened than the bad things. So, why look at bad things so much? Of course, it is important to look at it but not react so much where the guys who are within the team start feeling that something different is happening. I don't want to create that kind of environment where people start doubting themselves, people start taking unnecessary pressure. That is not how we want to play cricket.

"Of course, you will lose a series here and there. For a good 12 years we had that great run. Which meant that we were doing a lot of good things in those periods. So, just because we have lost this series, I don't think there is anything that we need to talk differently or do differently. But yeah, we need to find ways to come out of those situations," he'd argue, and later add, "We are not able to bat properly. So, it is allowed once in 12 years. If there were such collapses for 12 years, then we would not have been able to win. But, in India, we have a lot of expectations. That we have to win all the matches. We have made it a habit. Not that it is your fault. Because we [Indian team] have played such good cricket. So, the expectations have gone above a level where the expectations are that India cannot do anything wrong in India. This does not happen."

Twice in two Tests now, Rohit has had to come down and paint a picture of calm in front of a storm while addressing the media. India have already announced their squad for the tour of Australia, where they'd have to win at least four, if not all five, if they are to make it to the WTC final unassisted. If they are to get there in that fashion, it could take some doing, after what just happened in Pune.