India's Home Test Dominance Crumbles
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has delivered a stark warning about India's deteriorating batting performance in home Test matches, revealing that the team has now lost two of their last three Test series on home soil. The alarming trend saw India suffer comprehensive defeats in both these series, including a recent 2-0 whitewash against South Africa where the hosts' batting vulnerabilities became painfully evident.
Batting Collapses Expose Technical Flaws
The series against South Africa highlighted India's growing batting concerns, with the team experiencing repeated collapses while the visiting batters appeared significantly more comfortable on the same spin-friendly surfaces. Only Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja managed to cross the 100-run mark across the entire two-Test series, exposing the failure of established names.
Seasoned campaigners including KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant endured difficult outings, while young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal produced just one notable innings before fading away in the remaining matches. The statistics paint a worrying picture for a team traditionally known for their batting dominance at home.
Structural Issues Behind the Decline
According to Manjrekar's analysis, these defeats stem from deeper structural problems rather than temporary form slumps. He identified a crucial pattern where Indian batters who excel in domestic cricket gradually lose their touch with home conditions after joining the national team.
"There are two reasons India went down 0-3 to New Zealand and 0-2 to South Africa at home," Manjrekar explained during an Instagram session. "And both teams beat India not by pace, swing or bounce but by spin."
The cricket expert elaborated on his "NRI batter" theory, stating that once selected for India, batters become like non-resident Indians who spend most of their time playing overseas cricket rather than domestic matches in India. This leaves them poorly prepared for the specific challenges of home conditions when they return for Test matches.
Lack of Domestic Exposure Hurts Preparation
Manjrekar provided compelling data to support his argument, noting that players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant have played between nine to twelve Test matches away from home over the past two years, with significantly fewer appearances in India.
"When they play Tests at home, there are hardly any first-class matches that they've played," he emphasized. "So they come very poorly trained or any recent experience on those kinds of pitches."
This analysis becomes particularly concerning given that India's young batting lineup had shown impressive form during their England tour, demonstrating resilience and technical competence in challenging overseas conditions. However, that same confidence has failed to translate when playing at home.
The paradox revealed by Manjrekar's assessment suggests that India's biggest batting challenges may no longer be in foreign conditions but have emerged in their traditional stronghold - their own backyard. This represents a significant shift in the dynamics of Indian Test cricket that requires urgent attention from team management and selectors.
