NEW DELHI: India’s crushing 0–2 Test series defeat to South Africa — capped by a record-breaking 408-run loss in Guwahati — has triggered a wave of sharp criticism from former cricketers, with Anil Kumble leading calls for an urgent rethink of India’s muddled Test blueprint.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The loss marks India’s heaviest defeat by runs in Test cricket and their first home series defeat to South Africa in 25 years, deepening concerns over the team’s direction under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Kumble slams “chaotic” approach, warns of deeper structural flawsKumble, speaking on the official broadcast JioStar, delivered the strongest rebuke, pointing to India’s instability, overuse of all-rounders and constant chopping and changing as core reasons for the slide.“Test match cricket requires a different mindset, you can’t really have so many all-rounders, so much chopping and changing, so many changes in the batting order, in the team itself. Every second game you have a new player coming in, a couple of guys get dropped,” Kumble said, calling for a complete reset.The last year has seen the exits of stalwarts Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma, leaving a young and unsettled side struggling to find identity and rhythm. Kumble said this transition was badly mismanaged.“India needs to sit down and think. You can’t forget these results. When stalwarts retire, you need a vision. You can’t throw players in and hope they develop when you have only one or two experienced names left,” he warned.Prasad hits out at “all-rounder obsession”Former pacer Venkatesh Prasad echoed the criticism, blasting what he termed India’s flawed selection philosophy.“The all-rounder obsession is absolute brain-fade… poor tactics, poor skills, poor body language and an unprecedented two series whitewash at home,” Prasad wrote on X, adding that India risk sweeping these concerns “under the rug” with no Test cricket scheduled for nine months.Pietersen, Pathan question India’s dramatic declineFormer England captain Kevin Pietersen expressed astonishment at how quickly India’s home dominance has evaporated.“India NEVER loses at home… What’s happened to India in the last couple of years in Test cricket?” he posted.Irfan Pathan was equally blunt, saying Indian batters showed “poor patience and technique” and pushed for selecting players who can handle spin better.With two home whitewashes in two years and 10 defeats in their last 19 Tests, India’s Test cricket meltdown has become too large — and too loud — to overlook.
