SENA is an acronym that takes the Indian team out of its comfort zone in Tests. It stands for South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.
These countries represent the toughest challenge for India, the batsmen in particular.
The New Zealand tour completed a cycle of SENA campaigns for India, beginning with the tour of South Africa in 2017-18.
Since then, India has toured England, Australia and New Zealand for the Test series. And what’s the score? It’s 1-3 against Virat Kohli and his men.
Unsatisfactory record
Kohli’s team likes to believe it is one of the great sides in world cricket and the best Indian team ever. That’s far from the truth.
Clive Lloyd’s bunch of conquerors steam-rolled opposition away from home. Then Steve Waugh’s men were formidable on foreign soil.
And let’s not forget Bradman’s Invincibles. This Indian team is not even close to those sides.
While it’s true that India competed hard in South Africa, it eventually went down 1-2. India lost critical moments in the first two Tests and that hurt the side.
Then, India travelled to England. It was trounced 1-4 in the Test series but the scoreline did not reflect the intensity of the contests. India was found wanting in end-game skills.
Hour of glory
Then arrived India’s hour of glory when the side won its first ever Test series — the verdict was 2-1 — in Australia last season. Steve Smith and David Warner were missing from the Aussie line-up. But you cannot hold that against the Indians.
In New Zealand, India was swept aside 0-2 without any fight. In conditions where the ball swung, seamed and bounced, the Indian batting, lacking footwork, unsure of the off-stump, and undone by short-pitched bowling, stood totally exposed.
The quality of the New Zealand bowling was high. The response from the Indian batsmen was poor, and, at times, pathetic.
Kohli fails to click
The skipper himself made 38 runs from four innings at 9.50. Kohli was not still at the crease as he awaited the ball — here you need to wait for the ball to come to you, play it late — and was dragging his front foot across.
Kohli could not pick the direction of the swing. When the ball swung, Kohli, with his pad thrust forward, was in trouble.
The Indian batsmen would be embarrassed in the manner they got out to short-pitched deliveries. They did not get into good positions and were unsure whether to essay the hook or the pull or leave the lifters.
And they walked back to distressing dismissals; none more than Ajinkya Rahane’s hooking-into-the-stumps-act at the Hagley Oval.
World-class bowlers
New Zealand possessed a world-class right-left pair in Tim Southee and Trent Boult and a rising star in Kyle Jamieson with his height, bounce, off-stump line and subtle movement.
Also read: Didn’t play to our potential, admits Kohli
Against them, the Indian batsmen could not pace their innings. They were too slow against the accurate Kiwis at the Basin Reserve — the New Zealand seamers choked the batsmen before consuming them — and then decided to play the hook and the pull against almost every short ball at the Hagley Oval.
The move fetched some runs but eventually backfired. At a critical point on day one, Pujara, fatally, attempted to pull a sharply climbing delivery from the off-stump.
58 is the highest
That Mayank Agarwal’s 58 was the highest individual score for the Indians in the series tells the story. These are conditions where you need to be decisive whether going forward or back. The Indians were often caught at the crease. As for bowling, the Indian pacemen except Ishant Sharma bowled the wrong length in the first Test. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami found some rhythm and control in the second Test but then the batsmen let them down.
This Indian team is no world beater in Tests. Ignore the hype merchants.