Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has addressed whether India’s recent batting performance against New Zealand could be considered the worst in their own country. Gavaskar felt that India, which had overcome a low of 46 in Bengaluru, looked unprepared for the challenges in Pune and Mumbai. The result was a historic 3–0 series defeat at home, a first for India, marking their first loss in a home Test series in 12 years. India struggled in the final Test, failing to reach a modest target of 147 runs at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and losing by 25 runs.

“You could say that,” Gavaskar commented, while responding exclusively to India Today, if this was India’s worst batting performance. “When you look back, there have been similar instances where India’s batting has collapsed, even when they were chasing relatively small totals. But the way they responded in the second innings in Bengaluru, scoring over 400 runs, suggested that They had overcome that initial setback of 46 to the full. That’s why the next four innings, in Pune and Mumbai, leave you wondering what went wrong.”

Sunil Gavaskar EXCLUSIVE: Highlights

What went wrong with India’s batting?

The three-match series began with India’s shocking 46 total in the first innings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, marking his lowest home score and second-lowest total in Tests after the infamous 36 all out in Adelaide against Australia. In their second innings, India showed resilience, scoring 462, Sarfaraz Khan scored 150 and Rishabh Pant contributed 99. Despite the backlash, India eventually lost the match by eight wickets.

The Pune Test continued India’s batting woes as they posted scores of 156 and 245 in two innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 77 and a late contribution from Ravindra Jadeja were the only bright spots in an otherwise disappointing batting display.

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Gavaskar noted that India should not have struggled so much against New Zealand’s decent but relatively modest spin attack, which included Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner. “Yes, the New Zealand bowlers did well, often making early progress with the new ball before the spinners took over,” he said. “But with the utmost respect to Santner, Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips, they are not bowlers who should complete this Indian batting line-up as easily as they did in those four innings.”

The Wankhede test saw India prepares for 121 runs and only Rishabh Pant shows any resistance. This was only the fourth instance of India failing to chase a total of less than 200 in Tests.