India were touring New Zealand after four years and the results couldn’t have been more one-sided! While India drew first-blood by thrashing New Zealand 5-0 in the T20 games (yes, 5-0!), it was India that was on the receiving end as New Zealand turned the tables decisively by double-whitewashing India 3-0 in the one-day internationals (ODIs) and 2-0 in the test matches!
Why did the cookie crumble in such a one-sided manner in each of the three formats, with the Black Caps redeeming themselves and how! Well, here are the ten reasons why:
- Two of the five T20s India won were through a super over, after the twenty overs threw up a tied score. These could have gone either way, but India just found a way to hold their nerves twice
- India had no past baggage of underperformance to carry as the bilateral T20 series was getting played for the first time
- The past blues from the ODIs and Tests on the lively New Zealand wickets came back to haunt the Indians in the other two formats
- Indian bowling went off the boil as the series progressed. Jasprit Bumrah, mainstay weapon of the Indian bowling attack surprisingly struggled to find his length. He finished the one-day series wicketless! Shardul Thakur got a great break to make an impression but did disappoint, giving more than 200 runs in the three ODIs.
- Indian opening batsmen failed to impress in a string of low opening stands. Mayank Agarwal failed to replicate his warm-up game performance again (scoring a mere 36 runs in 3 innings)
- The backbone of Indian batting lineup, Cheteshwar Pujara, also drew flak for his approach in the first Test, where his 11 off 81 balls put enormous pressure on the other batsmen. Pujara and Mayank Aggarwal were the only two players who managed to reach a total of 100 runs over the four innings
- India’s batting powerhouse and talismanic skipper Viral Kohli managed to score 218 runs in 11 innings at an average below 20. The run machine has not scored a hundred in his last 22 international innings across formats
- Rishabh Pant once again failed to capitalize on the opportunity that the selectors keep offering him. He contributed 60 runs in 4 innings at an average of 15. With him behind the wickets, he is regularly compared with the legend – “MS Dhoni”. He really needs to get his game plan, mental attitude and discipline together to achieve the consistency that the international platform demands
- The New Zealand bowling attack, led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee, found their mojo in the ODIs and Tests. The debutant allrounder Kyle Jamieson seemed like a great find as he impressed in both the bowling and batting departments.
- Tom Latham proved that he is an astute and determined captain who can hold his own while the maestro Williamson was injured
So that’s how the cookie crumbled for India. They got their first shock in the ongoing world test series championship, after a string of series wins on their home grounds.
10 Reasons Why the Cookie Crumbled the Way It Did 