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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Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol unveil ‘DDLJ’ sculpture at London’s Leicester Square
London (PTI): Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol huddled under an umbrella on a rainy Thursday in London to unveil their bronze likeness from an iconic ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ scene.
The sculpture of the duo joins Leicester Square’s ‘Scenes in the Square’ trail depicting memorable shots from some of the world’s most famous films, with ‘DDLJ’ marking a Bollywood first and the 30th anniversary of the 1995 box-office hit. It is in this popular London square that SRK as Raj and Kajol as Simran first cross paths unknowingly.
“DDLJ was made with a pure heart. We wanted to tell a story about love, how it can bridge barriers and how the world would be a better place if it had a lot of love in it, and I think this is why 'DDLJ' has had a lasting impact for over 30 years now," said Khan.
“Personally, 'DDLJ' is part of my identity, and it is humbling to see film, and Kajol and me, receiving so much love since it was released,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to the Heart of London Business Alliance, behind the cinematic trail at Leicester Square, for celebrating ‘DDLJ’ and “immortalising” its lead stars.
“Seeing ‘DDLJ’ become the first Indian film to be honoured in the iconic Scenes in the Square trail is an emotional moment and has brought back so many memories.
"I feel immense pride knowing the film has been embraced around the world, and I want to share this moment with the entire cast and crew of ‘DDLJ’, my friend and director Aditya Chopra and the Yash Raj Films family. This is a moment I will never forget,” added Khan.
Kajol, joined by her daughter Nysa and son Yug, posed with Khan in front of the statue as she braved the rain in a green saree.
“It’s incredible to see ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ continue to receive so much love, even 30 years later. Watching the statue being unveiled in London felt like reliving a piece of our history - a story that has truly travelled across generations,” said Kajol.
“Seeing it find its rightful place in Leicester Square, a location of such enormous significance to ‘DDLJ’, makes this moment even more special. For the film to be honoured in this way in the UK – the first Indian film to receive such recognition – is something that will forever stay in the hearts and minds of all the ‘DDLJ’ fans across the world,” she said.
Their statue, captured in a dancing pose from the hit song ‘Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna’, joins the likes of Harry Potter, Bridget Jones, Mary Poppins, and Batman in what is dubbed as an ever-growing celebration of movie magic in a square packed with multiplex cinema screens.
“When ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, DDLJ, was released 30 years ago, the film became a defining moment for Indian cinema and changed the face of the industry, capturing the hearts of everyone who saw it all over the globe," said Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films.
“We’re thrilled to be the first Indian film to be represented in ‘Scenes in the Square’. It also marks 30 years of DDLJ, a film that has spread love and joy globally, and shows the cultural impact it has had in UK.
“We are honoured that our superstars and our film are being recognised on the world stage alongside the Hollywood elite, from Gene Kelly to Laurel & Hardy to Harry Potter. This statue will be a great way to express the international appeal of Indian movies and build bridges amongst communities through cinema,” he said.
Since its release in 1995, ‘DDLJ’ has become the longest-running film in Hindi cinema history.
Ros Morgan, Chief Executive at Heart of London Business Alliance, said: “We’re proud to welcome global megastars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol to our Scenes in the Square trail.
"Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is a cinematic phenomenon that has shaped generations, and London’s first tribute to Indian cinema honours a story whose magic continues to captivate audiences worldwide.”
It is a particularly special year for the film, with a musical based on the romance playing to packed houses at Manchester’s Opera House earlier this year. Aditya Chopra reprised his role as director of the English language stage production, ‘Come Fall In Love – The DDLJ Musical’, which revolved around the love story of Simran and Roger.
The script was a nod to the original as it followed Simran as a young British Indian woman who finds herself engaged to a family friend in India in an arranged marriage. However, the plot thickens when she falls in love with a British man named Roger.
