India’s Shubman Gill in motion throughout Check match in opposition to England in London’s Kia Oval, Britain on August 3, 2025. — Reuters
The considered enjoying a Check sequence in India as soon as struck concern into the hearts of touring sides, however with their fortress now breached twice within the final 12 months, native cricket followers know the group’s aura of invincibility on dwelling soil has been shattered.
India didn’t lose a house Check sequence for 12 years till New Zealand whitewashed them 3-0 late final yr, and whereas the reverberations from that beautiful defeat had grown faint, South Africa’s 2-0 victory has delivered one other almighty shock to dwelling followers.
“There was an aura around the Indian team when playing in India. You can see it disappearing in the distance,” commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote on X after India suffered their heaviest defeat when it comes to runs within the second Check on Wednesday.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was even booed in Guwahati after overseeing India’s fifth defeat of their final seven dwelling Checks.
For a technology, India had remained, in former Australia captain Steve Waugh’s phrases, the “final frontier”, the place dwelling spinners routinely dismantled touring groups on turning tracks.
“Teams used to be scared to come to India to play Test cricket,” player-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik mentioned on social media. “Now they must be licking their lips.
“These are robust occasions for India in Check cricket, and hard choices might need to be taken.”
India appear to be going through a tough transition phase in the wake of batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ending their Test careers.
One of India’s biggest concerns is how spin is being used as a weapon against them instead of a weakness for them to exploit in other teams.
The once familiar sight of nimble-footed, whippy‑wristed Indian batters dominating spin looks a distant memory, replaced by the horror of watching South Africa off-spinner Simon Harmer wreak havoc by taking 17 wickets over the two Tests.
The 201 runs India managed in Guwahati was their highest innings total in the series, and only two local batters — Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja — managed a fifty in their four innings.
India played four spinners in the first Test and three in the second but were unable to unsettle the South Africa batters, who had both the plan and the skill to master turn.
However, captain Shubman Gill, who missed the second Test after suffering a neck injury in the opener, said India would be stronger for the setbacks.
“Calm seas don’t educate you the way to steer; it’s the storm that forges regular palms,” he wrote on social media. “We’ll proceed to imagine in one another, combat for one another, and transfer ahead – rising stronger.”
