NEW DELHI: Team India’s latest humiliation at the hands of South Africa has laid bare the deepening cracks in India’s Test cricket structure under head coach Gautam Gambhir. The 408–run mauling in Guwahati — India’s biggest defeat by runs in their Test history — not only sealed a 0–2 series whitewash but amplified concerns over direction, selection, and clarity in the red-ball setup.The loss was India’s fifth defeat in their last seven home Tests, a staggering slide for a team that played the finals of the first two World Test Championship cycles and once prided itself on being unbeatable at home. The Guwahati debacle also marked South Africa’s first Test series win in India in 25 years, underlining just how precipitously India’s fortress has fallen.
Under Gambhir, India’s Test journey has been turbulent, even chaotic. The team has featured constant chopping and changing, unstable batting positions, injured or retired stalwarts, and an over-reliance on all-rounders — all adding to a perception of muddled planning. India have now slipped to 10 defeats in 19 Tests under the former opener, and worryingly, their once iron-clad home record has eroded at an unprecedented pace.Of the four home series in the Gambhir era, India have claimed victories only against Bangladesh and West Indies — sides considered comparatively weak. Against stronger opponents, the slide has been dramatic: a 0–3 whitewash by New Zealand last year, followed by the 0–2 defeat to South Africa.
India’s away form has been only slightly better, highlighted by a 2–2 draw in England with a young Shubman Gill-led squad after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired. But that result stands as an outlier in a broader pattern of inconsistency and confusion.In all, Gambhir’s India have won only two of six Test series, a stark contrast to the stability and dominance that defined the previous decade. With questions now growing louder about selection strategy, temperament, and lack of clear vision, Indian Test cricket appears to be entering one of its most uncertain phases.
Gambhir Era: The Numbers That Show What’s Wrong
- India lost the home Test series 0–3 to New Zealand in 2024.
- India lost the home Test series 0–2 to South Africa in 2025.
- India suffered their biggest-ever defeat by runs: 408 runs vs South Africa (2025).
- India’s Test record under Gambhir: 7 wins, 10 losses, 2 draws.
- India have not won a Test series vs New Zealand, South Africa, England, or Australia in this period.
- India lost 5 of 9 home Tests under Gambhir.
- India were whitewashed at home twice inside two years.
- India went over a decade without a home series loss; under Gambhir they lost two.
- Seven batters used at No. 3 in 19 Tests.
- Simon Harmer: 17 wickets at 8.94 in the 2025 India series.
- Marco Jansen: 12 wickets at 10.08 in the same series.
- Aiden Markram: 9 catches in a single Test — most ever by a fielder.
- India’s batting average vs SA in 2025: 15.23, second-lowest ever in a Test series.
- India dropped to 5th in the WTC standings.
