End of a golden era for Rohit Sharma’s India as Tom Latham does an Edmund Hillary | Cricket News
Under the cloudless skies of Pune, an empire creaked and crumbled. To the plucky and resourceful men of Tom Latham, India conceded a series at home in 12 years, ending a streak of 18 victories, and signalling the symbolic end of a glorious era. The impregnable bastion had repelled captains from Steve Smith and Pat Cummins, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, but not Latham, just a fortnight into his captaincy. The first captain from his country to win a series in India, he could feel like his compatriot Edmund Hillary, the first man to scale Mount Everest.
The target of 359 the visitors set was steep, and India fell short 113 runs. As New Zealand rejoice the sweetest of their triumphs, India are left reeling with uncomfortable questions. Both long-term and short-term. The most immediate would be whether the team they have chosen for the Australia tour, more or less the same squad as this series, are competent enough to pose a strong challenge to the Australians, perked up to atone for the defeat last time. Or whether they have the quality, gumption and composure to avoid humiliation.
But a broader concern is the team’s identity and direction. Is it a pre-transition team, or a transitioning one? If so, are some of the veterans past their prime? Rohit Sharma averaged 15; Virat Kohli a marginally better 22. But before the selectors discuss their long-term viability, they should ponder whether the men they have earmarked as the future of Indian batting are adequate enough or ready yet to soak the pressures of international cricket.
It’s time for deep introspection in Indian cricket. For this was not an anomalous result, India were out-played and out-thought in their own conditions. They were ambushed on a green-top; they were bumped off on a turner. The technique of batsmen against both the moving and seaming ball were exposed.
The veteran spin pair of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin too endured a fallow series (12 wickets). Though wholesale changes would be kneejerk, it was a rude reminder that India’s selectors and team management need to flesh out succession plans.
The result, though, was inevitable, but hope fluttered when Yashasvi Jaiswal launched a stinging counterattack for a 65-balled 77. Just the second ball he faced he swiped Tim Southee for a six and continued the charge for nearly an hour past lunch. He defied the threats of the spinners and the tantrums of the surface admirably.
Now that’s what you call intent!! 🤞🏻🤞🏻#YashasviJaiswal #INDvNZ #IDFCFirstBankTestTrophy #TeamIndia #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/jD7twtss6e
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) October 26, 2024
He cut and drove, pulled and swept them into submission, as India breezed past 100 in 16 overs, stirring memories of Virender Sehwag in the horic chase of 387 against England in Chepauk (2008) soon after the Mumbai blasts. But the devils of the surface inevitably caught up with, as a Santner ball spun away from him, brushing the edge in the journey to the first slip.
Hope still dangled, as the finest Indian batsman of the generation was still at the crease. For a decade and a half, Kohli had been the torchbearer of Indian batting, the hope of a billion souls. In his 40-ball stay, he looked defiant and purposeful, resolved to produce another timeless masterpiece. The wrs whirled, as he struck his first boundary, whipping the ball off his legs with characteric gusto. He nudged singles, threaded gaps without fuss and seemed a man determined to fight the fate of the match.
Kohli looked desolate as he staggered back to the dressing, both in disbelief as in the agony that he would be on the losing side of a Test series at home for just the second time in his career. (BCCI)
He tried to clip the ball off his legs, a staple shot of his, missed the ball and was hit on the pads. When the umpire raised his index finger skywards, there was a sense of doom encroaching the arena. He reviewed only for the DRS to uphold the umpire’s decision. He looked desolate as he staggered back to the dressing, both in disbelief as in the agony that he would be on the losing side of a Test series at home for just the second time in his career. When India lost to England in 2012, Kohli was an incandescent youngster settling himself into the side. Then he was the future, and now he could feel he is the past.
That seven-over phase, bookended the exits of Jaiswal and Kohli, snuffed out the outside prospects of a Pune Miracle. Five balls after Jaiswal’s departure, a bullet throw from Santner caught Rishabh Pant, the miracle man of Brisbane, short on the crease. And then Kohli departed, which fell like the quiet end of an era of home domination. then the expectant crowd had begun to file out of the stadium, unable to fathom the defeat. Jadeja and Ashwin resed, but it was merely about delaying the unavoidable crumbling of a golden era.
