It’s been a week since India’s dominant home run of 12 years ended, but its pain was visible on Ravindra Jadeja’s face, the hurt in his words evident, as he found it hard to talk about it after the end of the first day of the third Test against New Zealand. India’s more than a decade-long winning streak at home comprising 18 series came to a screeching halt when New Zealand thumped them by 173 runs in the second Test at Pune. It began with their 4-0 whitewash of Australia in early 2013 when MS Dhoni was captain. From Dhoni to Virat Kohli and now Rohit Sharma, it was great while it lasted.
But as the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. Streaks in sports, no matter how incredible they are, always end, and India’s had to end at the hands of New Zealand, a team that has repeatedly given them nightmares on the big stage. For Rohit, this pill may not be as difficult to swallow as the rest of us given his ‘once in 12 years is acceptable’, but Jadeja, who was there throughout as India steamrolled oppositions at home, is still stinging by the defeat.
“I was afraid of this. Personally, I had thought that as long as I played for India, I didn’t want to lose a single series at home. But this also happened. Whatever I think about, it happens suddenly,” Jadeja said during the press conference after stumps on Day 1 in Mumbai.
“When you raise your expectations so high and then you lose a series after 12 years, it looks very different. These things happen, but as a team, it is a lesson. We need to pick up positives from this and deal with what situation comes next,” he added.
Jadeja on India’s collapse
But despite all that’s happened, India need Jadeja to put the disappointment of India’s defeat on the backburner and focus on the present. Jadeja picked up the 14th five-wicket haul of his Test career to dismiss New Zealand for 235. Still, his team is on the brink of a rare whitewash – the last time India lost an entire series at home was in the year 2000 – going down to South Africa 0-2 – and if India’s position in the Mumbai Test is any indication, the Men in Blue could be in a race against time. India are 86/4 at stumps on Day 1, squandering an advantage of being at 78/1. Speaking immediately after the end of the day’s play, Jadeja called that 15-minute horror passage of play ‘unexpected’, and rightfully so.
India pretty much gifted three wickets to New Zealand. Yashasvi Jaiswal was castled playing a reverse sweep, after which nightwatchman Mohammed Siraj lasted one ball. To make matters worse, Siraj even wasted a review, a widely-criticised call before the final nail in the coffin was hammered. Virat Kohli needlessly went for a single when there wasn’t and got run out in the process. Three wickets lost just like that in the space of 15 minutes but Jadeja opted to be merciful than point fingers at the collapse.
“It happens, in a team game, you can’t blame anyone. Everyone makes small mistakes but our remaining batters will have to make small partnerships. If the upcoming batsmen make small contributions, it will be good,” he mentioned.