India's surprising 0-2 series loss to the Proteas in the recent red-ball series has plunged the side into crisis.
Earlier this week, South Africa gave India their heaviest Test defeat by runs, defying expectations. It was the Proteas' initial series triumph in the subcontinent in a quarter-century and the host nation's another home failure in just one year after a decade-plus without a home loss.
The momentum established in the last several months has almost disappeared and the prospects of a number of cricketers - along with head coach the coach - are now uncertain.
Early Optimism Fades Quickly
The new-look squad's strong showing in the UK this season, under a different skipper, indicated a successful handover after the almost concurrent retirements of stalwarts Ashwin, Sharma, and Kohli.
An easy 2-0 triumph over the Windies at the commencement of the domestic season boosted that belief, before the Proteas came and inflicted a devastating defeat.
India were a bit unlucky that leader Shubman Gill suffered an injury early on in the initial match and took no further part in the series. However, that neither explains nor absolves the side of the well below standard showing in both Tests against South Africa.
Some big reputations suffered, and multiple individuals hoping for extended tenures in Tests were revealed to be still inadequate - in skill or mindset - for the Test cricket.
Worrying Trend
This represented the second series sweep at home suffered by India in just more than a year. Last year, unfancied the Kiwis had secured a surprising 3-0 win which essentially denied India a spot in the WTC final.
The fresh failure to South Africa threatens to derail the team's hopes of making the showpiece of this season as well.
After being third in the WTC rankings before the series, the side have dropped to number five. Though nine additional matches are still to come, a majority are against Australia. Ordinarily, performing in familiar conditions would be a huge advantage - even when facing the strong Australian side. Yet the failures against the Kiwis and South Africa provide no basis for such comfort.
Causes of the Fall
India's weakness in red-ball cricket has been significantly highlighted. That said, the reason the team have performed so poorly in Tests at home lately is continues to confuse.
In the 21st century, the Indian cricket team were considered unbeatable in red-ball cricket in home conditions. Under sweltering weather and on pitches that assisted spinners and aided their squad, the hosts dominated all comers. A rare failure, like in the 2012-13 season against the English, was viewed as an anomaly.
Currently, India appear to be vulnerable on home turf.
Against New Zealand in last year and the Proteas currently, India were hoisted by their own petard. The tracks they curated to help their style went wrong completely, as opponents used them more effectively, surpassing the Indian batters and bowlers when it was most crucial.
What Happened?
Certain analysts propose that the Indian team is struggling at home because local wickets have been altered from turners to fast tracks to train the squad to do well abroad.
A few mention that the IPL, in which several international stars take part, has reduced the mystery and hardship home wickets would pose to them earlier.
Even though there is validity in both analyses, it still does not explain the reason the side's results on home soil have seen such a dramatic drop.
Several Weaknesses
Many past stars diagnose a complex, multi-headed problem, not limited to a couple of reasons.
Critics and players have pointed to various flaws following India's disappointing performance to the South Africans: underrating the rivals, poor preparation, poor choices, arrogance, frequent changes of the starting eleven, and emphasizing white-ball over the longer format.
This was evident in the performances of the side.
Cricketers such as Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal, of whom high hopes were held, paid for their lack of application, while Sudarshan, Reddy, and Jurel - who were hoping to secure their position in the squad - were found wanting in skill and mindset, paying a heavy price for their casual attitude.
Just a few - Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep, Mohammed Siraj and Sundar - did justice to their talent and reputation - but not sufficiently to secure victories.
Coaching Scrutiny
The post-mortem targeted just the players - the selection panel and backroom team were also criticized, spurred on by distraught fans and outspoken ex-cricketers. Under focus of the criticism was team coach Gambhir.
In his post-series press
