Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team suffered a loss in the ICC World Test Championship final continued a common trend that has been observed in Tests in SENA countries.
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The Indian cricket team suffered heartbreak in the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand. Their eight-wicket loss was their sixth ICC tournament defeat since 2014. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, this was their consecutive loss in the ICC knockout stages. Kohli’s side lost in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and in the semifinal of the 2019 ICC World Cup.
In the first cycle of the ICC World Test Championship, India suffered a total of five losses. Three of them were to New Zealand. This included a 0-2 loss in the series in New Zealand and the ICC World Test Championship final. The remaining losses were against Australia in Adelaide and England in Chennai. However, there has been one consistent trend by the Indian cricket team after the loss in Southampton.
The first Test nightmare for India in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) has been constant. In the last 21 years, there have been only three instances when India has won the first Test. India secured a historic win against South Africa in the first Test in Johannesburg in 2006.
In New Zealand, India managed to win the first Test in Hamilton and it was their first win after 33 years in that country. Under Virat Kohli, India managed to break the drought in Australia by winning the 2018 Adelaide Test by 31 runs. The nightmare is prolonged in England, though.
India has not won the opening Test in England for 36 years now. They won the first Test in 1986 at Lord’s thanks to a brilliant knock by Dilip Vengsarkar. India lost the opening Test in 1990, 1996 and in 2002. Under Rahul Dravid, India could have lost the first Test even in 2007. But they were rescued by MS Dhoni, rain and umpire Steve Bucknor. In 2011 and 2018, India lost the opening Tests to lose 0-4 and 1-4. India started the first two Tests brilliantly in 2014 as they drew in Trent Bridge and won in Lord’s.
In the last eight years, India’s nightmare in the SENA countries has increased. India has lost three out of four Tests in New Zealand since 2014. In South Africa, they lost the Cape Town and Centurion Tests to lose the series at a time when they were expected to win. In the ICC World Test Championship cycle, India lost the opening Test in Australia as they were shot out for 36 in the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide. The opening Test woes is something that the Indian cricket team have struggled with for decades whenever they have toured the SENA countries.
India will be determined.to at least get off to a good start in the five-Test series in England. The side has not won a series for 14 years and with the amount of time they have spent in England, it gives them a great chance. The Indian cricket team are currently on a break for three weeks. They will reconvene in Durham on July 14 but they will be able to play only two inter-squad games in that period before the first Test on August 4.
