Reasons why India were outclassed in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under

India finally surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia after a decade. The Indian cricket team lost the 5-match series Down Under by a 3-1 margin. This was despite them taking a 1-0 lead with a win in the first Test held at the Optus Stadium in Perth. With the series defeat, India’s dream of making it to a 3rd ICC World Test Championship final on the bounce was over. South Africa and Australia will face each other in the final at Lord’s in June 2025. India were abysmal in their last 8 Test matches, losing six of them, including a 3-0 defeat to New Zealand at home. A common theme in these defeats was abysmal batting and poor captaincy.

India were in the contest of the 5th Test match after gaining a 4-run lead. However, the dismal batting show in their 2nd innings and Jasprit Bumrah getting an injury killed all hopes. India lost the Test by six wickets at the SCG and failed to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2015.

Several things on and off the field prevented India from a hat-trick of series wins Down Under. Here we decode six top reasons why India were bruised and humiliated by the Aussies.

The batting is the biggest worry

Be it home or away, the last 8 Tests have given us glimpses of the Indian team failing to address poor quality with the bat. One wonders how, both at home and away, this side is short of confidence against spin and pace alike. Apart from the second innings of the first Test match in Perth, Indian batting hardly looked in any control. They offered little or no resistance. The Indian batting unit crossed the 300-run mark just twice out of the nine innings Down Under. India’s scores in the series read 150, 487/6d, 180, 175, 260, 8/0, 369, 155, 181 and 162.

India were always in a shell and right from the NZ series, the inability to go past 200 runs often in an innings, highlights a collective failure of mindsets.

The young Yashasvi Jaiswal (391 runs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (298 runs) were the top two scorers for the visitors. Jaiswal, in particular, was the biggest positive. Reddy, who made his debut in this series, was consistent, barring the 5th Test, where he succumbed to poor shots. KL Rahul started well but lost control as the series progressed.

Rishabh Pant had a poor series largely due to T20 mode and bizarre shot selection at crucial junctures. One may argue he plays like that but where is the adaptability? 

Team selection and favours

Several aspects of India’s team selection went wrong in this series. India had three specialist pacers in the first Test alongside a pace-bowling all-rounder in Nitish and a spin all-rounder in Washington Sundar. One felt some sort of a balance. As the series progressed, changes in personnel and favours hampered the progress. 

Come the 2nd Test in Adelaide which was a pink-ball affair, Rohit Sharma was included after he missed the first match. An opener, Rohit was traded to bat down the order to allow KL Rahul to keep his place as the opener. This misfired badly. Rohit, who came into the series with an awful run of form in the last 5 Tests versus Bangladesh and New Zealand, respectively, continued in the same vein. It was more of a favour done to him as he was a captain. He struggled both as a batter and a leader. Despite Rohit also taking his usual place as an opener later on, there was no respite. He was finally dropped for the 5th Test.

R Ashwin was brought back for the 2nd Test, leaving Sundar out. This move failed, too. Ashwin retired thereafter, and more issues crept in. In the 3rd Test, India fielded another new spin option in Ravindra Jadeja, leaving Sundar out. In the last two Tests, India played two spin options and four pace options, denting the balance further. There was no template. 

Also, India never handed specialists a chance in batting. Sarfaraz Khan was kept out for no fault of his own. Abhimanyu Easwaran was ignored despite him being the 3rd choice opener.

Pacers didn’t support legend Bumrah

The difference between Australia and India was that the hosts relied on each other in the pace department and worked as a unit. Everyone was equally successful. India were forced to rely only on Jasprit Bumrah. If not for his brilliance, the side would have lost 5-0. Bumrah etched his name in the history books as he registered the best-ever performance by an Indian bowler in a Test series in Australia. The right-arm pacer finished as the highest wicket-taker across five Tests with 32 wickets from five matches (nine innings) at an average of 13.06 with three five-wicket hauls. 

But where were the others? Mohammed Siraj wasn’t at his best and looked too predictable at times. He had the costliest economy rate among the top five wicket-takers in the tourney. Siraj picked 20 wickets from five matches at an average of 31.15. 

India’s other support cast in pace faltered. Harshit Rana showed he needs more experience and work to be considered a Test bowler. His pace was an issue, and he leaked runs. Nitish needed more overs and a clear plan. Akash Deep didn’t do justice across the two Tests he played. Prasidh Krishna was hardly utilised and got one game. He picked six wickets in that contest. India didn’t take advantage of his height and pace. 

Rohit and Kohli have lost their way  

Rohit and Virat Kohli, being the senior figures, relied on emotion and favours from the management to keep their places for a while now in the Test side. What it does is that it robs Team India of playing performers in domestic cricket or even including players in the squad to build them for the road ahead. Kohli, at 36, has been a pale shadow of himself for the last few years in Tests. Rohit’s time is up. At 37, he looks outdated. Both players are more ego than substance. They won’t play domestic cricket or County cricket, but knowing stature can help them seal berths. 

Their pattern of dismissals and failing to work on them is a worry. Barring a ton (100*), Kohli scored just 90 runs from his remaining 8 innings. He averaged 23.75 in the series. Rohit averaged 6.20 from 5 outings. They collectively failed against New Zealand as well. Kohli’s average dip since 2021 tells you the lack of confidence he has been dealing with in red-ball cricket. Ranji Trophy matches played by him during this period is 0.

Rohit was often seen going into ultra-defensive mode as a captain. Often, the skipper played the waiting game, allowing Australia to make a comeback. India missed the aggression of Bumrah as skipper in the three Tests in between.

The Gambhir-led management is timid

Since Gautam Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as the head coach, India have fallen behind. Gambhir lacks the edge which Ravi Shastri and Dravid brought. One wonders what Gambhir brought as India repeated the same mistakes as seen in the New Zealand series at home. India’s frequent team changes, lack of balance in the side, and abysmal batting are the main factors robbing them of putting up quality cricket. Kohli has consistently fallen to the corridor of uncertainty, edging balls he could have left. One wonders, what has Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar done to address that loophole. Several reports claim Gambhir has failed to communicate properly. Moreover, off-field issues like team leaks and uncertainty in the dressing room did a lot of harm. Gambhir has the personnel he demanded but the management looks clueless with a lack of identity. 

Conclusion

Team India needs to start afresh for the 2025-27 edition of the WTC. And if they are to win this tournament, they have to move away from Rohit and Kohli. The selectors need to identify consistent performers in domestic cricket and build a side from there. Test players need to be freed from white-ball cricket, given India now has a big pool of players to play the 50 and 20-over formats. The Test team probably needs to follow a direction where they indulge in domestic and county cricket to better themselves in both home and away matches. Lastly, Gambhir needs to build the side around Jaiswal, Nitish and Bumrah.

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