India faced their biggest defeat margin in second IND vs SA test in Guwahati.
IND vs SA: On Wednesday, the second test between India and South Africa in Guwahati came to its conclusion, and it ended as expected. South Africa hammered India by a record margin of 408 runs, which is the biggest Test defeat for India in terms of runs. This was India's second home test series whitewash at home, which has never happened again.
India didn't have any individual centuries in two tests, and Indian batters averaged 15.23 across the two tests, which is the second-lowest ever in a series at home. In the last 7 home tests, India have lost four, and two wins came against a struggling West Indies.
India have also slipped down the World Test Championship 2025-27 table, and their chances of qualifying for the WTC final have suffered a bit. The hosts also recorded several unwanted records, and it was all humiliation of the team that used to dominate at home a couple of years back.
So, what has changed? India lost only two tests between 2015 and 2021, under Virat Kohli, and now, they have been whitewashed in two series. There were plenty that didn't go India's way, or one can say, India made a lot of mistakes. India will play their next test in August 2026 in Sri Lanka. Here we will talk about five major reasons that led India to 0-2 humiliation.
IND vs SA: Five reasons that India lost the Test series against South Africa
1. Injury to Shubman Gill
Indian Test captain Shubman Gill suffered a neck injury in the first innings in Kolkata. He went off the field and didn't take further part. India lost the first test by 30 runs while chasing 124 runs to win. Gill is the best test batter in 2025 and has scored 983 runs in 9 tests at an average of 70.21.
India missed their premium batter in both innings. If he were available for India in Kolkata, he might have scored 30 or more runs combined in two innings, which could have made the difference. Hence, the injury to Shubman Gill certainly cost India the IND vs SA series to some extent.
2. Form of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal
The reason that India were washed out by New Zealand last year is that they didn't have good starts with the bat. That has been repeated once again. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who are in the top four Test scorers in 2025, couldn't even score 100 runs in the series.
India had only one 50-run opening partnership, and they never had a good start. Jaiswal scored 83 runs at an average of 20.75, and Rahul scored 68 runs in four innings at an average of 17. Both openers scored a total of 151 runs in 8 innings between them.
3. Using too many all-rounders backfired
India's plan of going with several all-rounders has benefitted them in the T20Is, but in tests, the same strategy didn't work out. In Kolkata, they went in with Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel. In the second test, they added Nitish Kumar Reddy, replacing Axar in the side.
But they didn't use him much. Then, he also failed with the bat. India neither used the all-rounders with the ball nor could they bat well, like the South African all-rounders Marco Jansen and Senuran Muthusamy did. Instead, India could have gone with a specialist batter in the playing XI, as their batters struggled.
4. Careless Batting
India have taken the aggressive approach to another level when it comes to T20I cricket. But in tests, it looks like they are forcing themselves to be positive and score quickly. India played 240 overs across all four innings only and scored only 653 runs. On the other hand, South Africa played 338.4 overs and kept India on the field more.
That also broke the morale, and in Guwahati, the body language of Indian players was very poor. India tried to play too many aggressive shots and gave their wickets away. No one tried to bat sensibly. The prime example was Kuldeep Yadav, who batted for 134 balls in the first innings in Guwahati, while Rishabh Pant batted only 61 balls in the entire series.
5. Team combination and selection
Getting whitewashed in two home test series in consecutive years has certainly raised questions on the Indian management led by coach Gautam Gambhir. In the last year, India saw the retirements of Virat Kohli (Test), Rohit Sharma (Test), and Ravi Ashwin (all-format). Then, ignorance on the selection of Mohammed Shami.
Not just this, but India have also ignored domestic performers like Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, and others. That has certainly backfired on them. In Kolkata, India asked for rank-turners but didn't pick many batters who can play spin well.
Then, in Guwahati, they made a few changes, and Washington Sundar, who did well at no. 3 in Kolkata, was dropped to no. 8. Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Dhruv Jurel don't seem ready for tests, or there are some other good players available and ready. But the stubborn nature of this Indian think tank has handed another humiliating whitewash at home.
Conclusion
Team India are trying too hard in Tests to get success or repeat the formula of T20Is. But it isn't going to happen. Rather than trying so many all-rounders, India should go with specialist batters who can play spin well in home conditions. Then, they need a settled batting unit, and every player should know their role.
The seniors have retired, so they won't come back, but India don't need to play aggressive cricket in tough home conditions. They can play sensibly and get success as they used to get earlier. Notably, the next test for India is in August 2026, so there is a long time to think, work, and take decisions.