New Delhi, Nov 3: Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar has called for introspection after the hosts’ suffered a 0-3 Test series defeat at the hands of New Zealand after losing the third game at the Wankhede Stadium by 25 runs on Sunday.

As a result of the loss in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma-led India also lost their top spot in the World Test Championship standings and dropped to second place, behind new table-toppers Australia.

“Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection. Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? @ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and @RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings— his footwork made a challenging surface look like a different one altogether.”

“He was simply superb. Full credit to New Zealand for their consistent performance throughout the series. Winning 3-0 in India is as good a result as it can get,” wrote Tendulkar on X.

The defeat to New Zealand marked the first time India suffered a clean sweep in a Test series at home since South Africa's 2-0 win in 1999/2000. It’s also the first-ever 3-0 clean sweep defeat for India at home in a three-match series and beyond.

What also became a huge factor in India’s series loss was 37 of the 57 wickets they lost to New Zealand bowlers were to the spinners, something which got the hosts’ criticism from former opener Virender Sehwag.

“While as supporters it’s imperative to support the team but this has been a terrible performance from our team. The skill to play spin certainly needs an upgrade and certain experimentations are good for the shorter format but in Test cricket doing some needless experimentations just for the sake of it was indeed poor.”

“Congratulations to Tom Latham and his @blackcapsnz boys on doing what is a dream for every visiting team and no other could conquer in this way,” wrote Sehwag on his Instagram post.

Former India left-arm pace all-rounder Irfan Pathan addressed the lack of red-ball cricket batters have played in domestic cricket, citing a chat he had with his elder brother and ex-cricketer Yusuf Pathan.

“Had a solid conversation with @iamyusufpathan bhai yesterday. He made a valid point about domestic cricket – we’re either playing on grassy pitches or flat tracks, but rarely on turning surfaces anymore. Plus, top players aren’t playing domestic cricket. This could hurt us in the long run,” wrote Pathan on ‘X’.

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh called for the Test side to bat on better pitches at home, and urged them to not play on turning pitches. “Turning pitches becoming ur own enemy #INDvsNZTEST Congratulations NZ you outplayed us. Been saying from many years . Team India needs to play on better pitches. These turning pitches making every batsman look very ordinary .

“Earlier generations batsman’s never played on these kind of tracks . These tracks are prepared for 2/3 day test matches . You Don’t need Murli, Warne or Saqi on these pitches to get the teams out. Anyone can get anyone out,” he wrote on X.

India have only the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia left in their 2023-2025 WTC cycle assignments. The five-match Test series will be played in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney from November 22 to January 7, 2025.

If India are to make it to their third straight World Test Championship final, they will need at least four wins in Australia. They will also have to be dependent on results from other series going in their favour to enter the WTC final, to be held at Lord’s next year.

--IANS

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