Living in India, you often hear talk about India's performance in the SENA nations, and how those elite cricketing nations have built fortresses that Asian countries have been unable to penetrate. Now take that feeling of helplessness and worry, amplify it a hundred-fold, and then maybe, just maybe, you'll come close to what those same teams felt as their plane touched down on Indian soil, the result already decided.

Cricket has never seen a team dominate at home like India did over a 12-year span from 2012 to 2024. Over that span, India won a mind-numbing 18 consecutive series at home, nearly doubling the previous record of 10, achieved by the Australians from 1994 to 2000, and again from 2004 to 2008. 

Their win-loss record? 41-4 (~80% win rate). India at home was as close as you could get to invincible when playing on the spin-friendly tracks under the searing sun. 

Keys to Indian Dominance at Home

Spinners 

It’s no exaggeration to call Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja the greatest bowling duo the world has ever seen on home soil. Across a shared span of dominance, Ashwin featured in 52 Tests and Jadeja in 44, with the two combining for a staggering 530 wickets in India. That’s nearly 55% of all wickets taken by Indian bowlers during this period—a jaw-dropping statistic that underscores their impact. Their relentless consistency, guile, and adaptability made them indispensable, as they were the most capped players over this stretch. Whether it was Ashwin’s wizardry with flight and variations or Jadeja’s relentless accuracy and subtle turn, the pair formed an unyielding wall against visiting teams.

Their partnership wasn’t just about individual brilliance but a symphony of complementary skills that could twist games in India’s favor in a matter of hours. On any given day, their presence in the XI was a nightmare for batters trying to find answers to the duo's relentless pressure.

All-Around Batting Abilities

While undeniably crucial, taking wickets is only part of the narrative in cricket. To truly understand the game's dynamics, especially on Indian soil, one must look beyond just bowling statistics. During this time, 43 Indian players participated in multiple Test matches on their home turf, and strikingly, only 18 of them had a batting average below 30. This statistic speaks volumes about how Indian pitches bring out the best in batsmen.

In fact, almost every batsman who has represented India has excelled when playing at home. The pitches, often tailored to favor spin, create conditions where even the most inexperienced players have found ways to shine. India’s top-3 batting order, in particular, has delivered stellar performances against some of the world’s most formidable teams on these tracks.

 

Improved Performance Abroad

Since cricket resumed in late 2020, India’s Test team has experienced a surge in international performance, signaling a new era. In 14 Tests, they have achieved six wins, six losses, and two draws, highlighted by a historic series victory in Australia, a drawn series in England, and mixed results in South Africa. This period marked a shift in India’s fortunes in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia), where past tours often ended in frustration and heartbreak.

India’s formidable pace attack was key to this success, carrying the team when the batters fell short. Traditionally known for its batting powerhouses on subcontinental pitches, Indian cricket saw its narrative shift as fast bowlers became the heroes abroad. Jasprit Bumrah, in particular, emerged as one of the world’s best bowlers, claiming 58 wickets in 13 matches at a strike rate of 47.0 post-Covid. Supported by Mohammad Shami’s fiery spells, and Mohammed Siraj’s promise, the pace unit dictated terms, consistently taking 20 wickets and adapting to diverse conditions.

While the bowlers were the backbone, the batting lineup—featuring Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma—played a more subdued role. Despite moments of brilliance, such as Rishabh Pant’s counterattacks, their overseas struggles highlighted a need for improvement. 

India's Fall from Test Cricket Dominance

New Zealand

All of this brings us to October 2024. 

Returning to India after three years, New Zealand arrived battered—fresh off a 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka and burdened by history. They hadn’t won a single Test in India since 1988-89, the year before Sachin Tendulkar even debuted. In over seven decades of touring, they had managed just two wins on Indian soil. This wasn’t even the strongest New Zealand side to visit India. So, whether 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, or 3-0, India would be victorious. The home dominance would be extended, adding to a streak that already felt untouchable. Or so we thought.

India’s collapse in the first innings of the opening Test, 46 all out, should have been the warning. They had won the toss, batted first, and yet, by mid-afternoon on Day 2 (Day 1 was washed out), trudged out to bowl, having spent less than three hours at the crease. In the moment, it seemed a freak occurrence, a stumble at the starting line of a marathon. But by the end of the series, that collapse felt less like an anomaly and more like a prophecy. The unraveling was swift and absolute. India’s proud, decade-long record of not losing a Test series at home was shattered in a brutal 0-3 whitewash at the hands of a New Zealand side that had only ever won twice in India.

Ravichandran Ashwin's decline mirrored that of his team. Once the architect of so many Indian triumphs, the off-spinner found himself unable to turn games on his own anymore. He toiled, searching for the magic that had bailed India out countless times, but his spells lacked the venom of old. And yet, it wasn’t the bowlers who lost India this series. Barring an outlier inning in Bengaluru, where New Zealand piled on 402, the attack did its job. It kept the Black Caps around the 250-mark, offering the batters a chance. But that chance was never taken.

Instead, India’s batting lineup withered. The veterans, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the supposed backbone of the team, amassed just 184 runs between them. Their struggles set the tone, but the young guns, the supposed torchbearers of India’s future (Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal) fared no better. They never found their rhythm, unable to dig India out of the holes they kept falling into. The entire series felt like a slow-motion collapse, an empire cracking under its own weight, the illusion of dominance fading with every lost session. By the time the final wicket fell in Mumbai, New Zealand’s players huddled in celebration, while India’s trudged off, the whitewash complete. The fortress had crumbled.

Australia

It was almost poetic that India’s next series was in Australia. For years, India had made a habit of bouncing back from crushing defeats with emphatic series wins in Down Under. In 2018, they had been humiliated in England but turned it around to claim a historic series win in Australia. In 2020, after being humbled by New Zealand early in the year, their B-Team marched into the Gabba and stunned the world. Now, after yet another disaster against New Zealand at home, this series felt like an opportunity to hit the reset button, to show the world that Indian cricket still belonged among the elite.

And for one fleeting moment, it looked like they might actually do it.

The first Test in Perth was everything Indian fans could have asked for. After an underwhelming first innings with the bat, the team roared back in the second. Virat Kohli rolled back the years with a masterful century, a reminder of the days when he could bend matches to his will. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young prodigy, looked like a revelation at the top. But it was the bowlers who stole the show. Jasprit Bumrah was at his absolute best, dismantling Australia with an eight-wicket haul. The entire attack operated with ruthless efficiency, conceding just around 340 runs across two innings. It was a classic all-around performance, one that made it feel as if India could somehow pull off the impossible—three straight series wins in Australia.

Then, it all unraveled.

What followed wasn’t just a defeat—it was a complete collapse, one arguably more humiliating than what had just transpired in New Zealand. That loss could be simply pinned on poor batting, but here, India’s vaunted fast-bowling attack, supposedly built for these tricky, bouncy, overseas conditions, fell apart at the seams. Australia’s pace trio—Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and a rotating third seamer between Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland—combined for 70 wickets in the series. India’s entire attack? Just 80. And of those, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj alone took 52. The rest of the bowlers were passengers, failing to build pressure or create opportunities. Australia simply played out Bumrah and Siraj’s spells, knowing that once they were off, it was easy pickings for them. Without consistent support, even Bumrah—arguably India’s greatest pacer ever—could only do so much.

With the bowling unable to sustain pressure, the batting, already fragile, crumbled. Individual moments of brilliance aside, no one found any consistency. Kohli’s 100-run gem masked an otherwise abysmal series—just 90 more runs across eight other innings. KL Rahul scraped together just 192 runs outside of his highest score. Shubman Gill barely crossed 90 in five innings. Rohit Sharma? 31 runs in six innings. The struggles weren’t just bad—they were historic. And then came the drama. Rohit, India's captain, benched himself for the final Test, sending shockwaves through the team and the fanbase alike. A leader stepping away in the middle of a disaster—intentional or not—was an ominous sign.

This loss wasn’t just another bad tour. It was the culmination of a season from hell for Indian Test cricket. At one point, they had led the ICC World Test Championship leaderboard. Now, they had gone 1-6 across two key overseas series, watching their hold on Test supremacy slip through their fingers. This wasn’t just a series loss—it felt like the end of an era. Kohli and Rohit, the pillars of India’s dominance, will likely bow out from Test cricket soon. So many have already done so. And much like MS Dhoni’s squads post-2011, this team will have to navigate years of growing pains before it finds its new core.

For Indian cricket, the past decade was defined by resilience, and taking the attack to the opposition, no matter the circumstances. But after the wreckage of this season, one thing is clear: the road back to the top will be long, arduous, and anything but certain.