New Zealand vs India 2020: Three Reasons Why India Lost Test Series To New Zealand

Team India registered their first series loss in the World Test Championship after being whitewashed by New Zealand in the two-match series. The visiting Indian side were outplayed in every department as they produced a disappointing result after leading the World Test Championship tally for quite some time.

It was a collective failure for the visiting side as their batsmen and bowlers failed to display their prowess in overseas conditions.

In the first Test, India registered the scores of 191 and 165, as their bowlers failed to do the damage on a pitch which suited them the most, allowing New Zealand to clinch a thumping 10-wicket victory.

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Surprisingly, in the second Test, India put up a total of 242 runs on board in their first essay and bundled New Zealand out for 235 runs. But could not replicate their performance in the second innings as the visitors were bundled out for 124 runs, setting New Zealand a target of 132 runs, which was chased down with seven wickets to spare.

We take a look at what led to India’s Test series failure against New Zealand:

Below-par totals:

New Zealand were a treat to watch at their home conditions, with most Indian batsmen finding it agonisingly difficult to get amongst the runs, on pitches which favoured the bowlers most.

India failed to cross the 200-run mark in the first Test with none of their premier batsmen taking charge against the formidable New Zealand bowling attack.

In the second Test, after getting a good start in the first innings, there was a slump in performance of the Indian batsmen as they were once again bundled out for 191 runs.

No character shown by India as a collective unit:

Cricket is a team sport and it would be unfair to single out a player if the team does not perform well. For India, it was a collective failure in the Test series against New Zealand.

Even though India had enough depth in their ranks and bench strength to back them, the team failed to show character, while they were struggling and as a result surrendered to a New Zealand side, which displayed an all-round performance.

While Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari and Cheteshwar Pujara got starts on occasionally, they failed to make the most of it and anchor the innings for India. Bowlers too failed to provide breakthroughs at regular interval of time as the Kiwis capitalised on it to put India out of the tally.

Poor approach and technique in overseas conditions:

Poor outcome in both Tests reflected to India’s poor technique and approach in overseas conditions. After getting a fair view of how the pitch behaved and the intent from the New Zealand side in the first Test, India failed to better their game in the second Test, as their poor technique was exposed once again.

India last won a Test series in New Zealand in 2008-09. Since then, India have toured New Zealand in 2013-14, before the current series, and were beaten in both of them.

If India are to win a series on testing track, they should so more resilience, and adjust their approach on the field.