Is India’s Test fortress crumbling at home?
From 2012 to late 2024, the Indian Men’s Test cricket team did not lose a single home series. Between February 2013 and September 2024, India played 53 Tests at home, winning 42 and losing only four. Beating India on home soil was once considered nearly impossible, the team was compared to the great Australian side led by Ricky Ponting.
But things have changed. In the last seven home Tests, India has lost five. The only two wins came against a West Indies side that is far from its former glory. The defeat to New Zealand in 2024 was dismissed as a one-off, but the recent loss to South Africa has set alarm bells ringing. What was once an unbreakable fortress now seems to be cracking.
Let’s look at some of the reasons behind this sudden decline in India’s home dominance.
1. Frequent Changes and Chopping
Since the decline of Cheteshwar Pujara, India has tried as many as seven batters at the crucial No. 3 spot. The constant tinkering with the batting order has hurt consistency. For instance, Washington Sundar, who batted at No. 3 in the first Test and was India’s best performer, was pushed down to No. 8 in the next match. It almost appears that the head coach is applying T20 logic to Test cricket, an approach that simply doesn’t work in the longest format.
2. Priority to IPL Over Domestic Cricket
On one hand, senior players are told to prove themselves in domestic cricket to stay in contention for selection. On the other, players are fast-tracked into the national side purely on the basis of IPL performances. Domestic stalwarts like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan continue to pile up runs but remain mere travelling reserves. Meanwhile, youngsters like Sai Sudharsan, a fine talent but with limited first-class experience have already been handed Test caps.
3. Lack of Specialists
The current Indian team seems obsessed with picking all-rounders. In the recent Test series against South Africa, India fielded three all-rounders in both matches. While they add balance, Test cricket demands specialists batters who can occupy the crease and grind bowlers down, and bowlers who can bowl tirelessly in long spells, setting up dismissals with patience. Batters who can bowl or Bowlers who can bat are definitely good options in test cricket rather than proper all-rounders.
4. Poor Batting Technique
Indian batters, once known for their mastery against spin, are now struggling on home pitches. Visiting spinners like Mitchell Santner and Simon Harmer have looked far more threatening than they actually are largely because of India’s flawed approach. Gone are the days when Dravid, Laxman, or Pujara used their feet beautifully and punished spinners for even minor errors. Today’s batters rarely use their feet and seem hesitant to attack. The problem isn’t in the pitch it’s in their minds.
5. Pitch Demands Gone Wrong
India’s past home success didn’t come from rank turners or minefields. The batters applied themselves, spinners used flight and guile, and pacers extracted reverse swing. But in recent years, the team management has demanded pitches that spin sharply from Day 1, a move that has backfired. Indian batters have looked lost even against visiting spinners, while foreign batters have adapted far better against India’s own spin attack.
6. Shallow Bench Strength
India has always been blessed with world-class spinners from Kumble to Harbhajan to Ashwin and Jadeja. But today, the bench looks thin. Age is catching up with Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav seems the only specialist spinner in the squad. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are talented, but are they being developed as specialist spinners or bits-and-pieces all-rounders?
The same goes for the pace department. The earlier dominance owed much to Ishant Sharma, Shami, Bumrah, and Umesh Yadav. Now, apart from Bumrah and Siraj, there are few tested options. Who are the back-ups to these pacers? With batters too, India seems short of pure red-ball players ready to step up when needed.
7. Team in Transition
The senior players who built India’s home dominance are either retired or out of contetion. This is a young team, and it will take time for them to adapt to the rhythm of Test cricket. But for that to happen, they need consistent backing from the selectors and the management. Frequent chopping, ignoring domestic performers, and favouritism over merit will only hurt the team further.
India’s recent struggles at home are not just about individual failures, they reveal deeper structural and systemic issues. It’s time the players take responsibility, the management restores stability, and the selectors start valuing domestic performances again.
India has weathered bigger crises before and always bounced back stronger. Fans across the country still believe this young team will rediscover its winning rhythm. With the next home Test series scheduled for August 2026, the coming months will tell us what lessons the management has truly learned — and whether the fortress can be rebuilt.
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Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.
"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.
The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.
"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.
The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.
The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.
The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.
A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.
