India's surprising 0-2 loss to South Africa in the recent red-ball series has sent shockwaves through the squad.
In the final match, South Africa gave India their heaviest Test defeat by runs, defying expectations. This represented South Africa's initial series triumph in India in 25 years and India's another home failure in just 12 months after a 12-year invincible streak.
The positive trajectory established in the previous half-year has all but vanished and the prospects of multiple squad members - including head mentor the coach - are now uncertain.
A Promising Start Vanishes
The new-look squad's strong showing in England this season, under a fresh leadership, suggested a successful handover after the almost concurrent retirements of veterans R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli.
A facile 2-0 triumph over West Indies at the commencement of the home campaign strengthened that view, until the Proteas came and inflicted a crushing loss.
India were somewhat unlucky that leader Shubman Gill suffered an injury quickly in the initial match and took no further part in the series. Yet that neither explains nor absolves the side of the terribly sub-par showing in the two games against South Africa.
Some big reputations were damaged, and multiple individuals aspiring to long red-ball careers were exposed as still inadequate - in ability or temperament - for the format.
A Troubling Pattern
This was the second whitewash in home conditions endured by India in just a year. Last year, unfancied the Kiwis had pulled off a staggering 3-0 triumph which essentially denied India a berth in the Test championship finale.
The recent defeat to the Proteas could damage the team's chances of making the decider of this cycle also.
Previously ranked third in the WTC table prior to the contest, the side have been relegated to fifth place. Although nine further games are remaining, five of these are against Australia. Typically, performing in familiar conditions would be a significant benefit - even against the strong Australian side. But the debacles against the Kiwis and the Proteas provide no basis for such comfort.
Reasons for the Slump
The national team's vulnerability in the longer format has been badly exposed. That said, why the team have fared so badly in Test matches at home lately is continues to confuse.
In the 21st century, the Indian cricket team were considered impregnable in red-ball cricket at home. Under sweltering weather and on tracks that favored spin bowling and suited their batsmen and bowlers, the hosts brooked no opposition. The occasional loss, such as in 2012-13 against the English, was viewed as an exception.
Currently, the team seem vulnerable in their own backyard.
Facing the Kiwis in last year and South Africa this year, India were defeated by their own tactics. The pitches they curated to help their style failed miserably, as the opposition capitalized on them more skillfully, beating the home team's players when it mattered most.
The Core Issue
Certain analysts propose that India is failing at home because local wickets have been altered from spinning tracks to fast tracks to get cricketers ready to succeed abroad.
Others highlight that the domestic T20 league, in which numerous foreign cricketers participate, has taken away the unfamiliarity and challenge Indian conditions would present to them before.
Although there is validity in each argument, it does not clarify why the side's results on home soil have seen such a dramatic drop.
Various Shortcomings
Most former players diagnose a complex, multi-headed problem, not just one or two factors.
Critics and players have identified multiple deficiencies following the team's humiliating loss to the Proteas: underestimating the opposition, poor preparation, poor choices, arrogance, frequent changes of the team lineup, and favoring white-ball over red-ball cricket.
This was obvious in the performances of the team.
Members such as Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal, of whom high hopes were held, were punished for their lack of application, while Sai Sudarshan, Reddy, and Jurel - who were looking to cement their position in the squad - were found wanting in skill and mindset, suffering the consequences for their casual attitude.
Only a handful - Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar - fulfilled their ability and standing - but not sufficiently to secure victories.
Management Questions
The post-mortem also included the entire setup - team selectors and support staff were also criticized, fuelled by distraught fans and vocal past stars. At the centre of the scrutiny was head coach Gautam Gambhir.
At his post-series press
