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India’s Test team appear vulnerable at home | The Express Tribune
NOT GOING IN THEIR FAVOUR: India’s Rishabh Pant in action. Photo: Reuters
INDIA:
The thought of playing a test series in India once struck fear into the hearts of touring sides, but with their fortress now breached twice in the last 12 months local cricket fans know the team’s aura of invincibility on home soil has been shattered.
India did not lose a home test series for 12 years until New Zealand whitewashed them 3-0 late last year, and while the reverberations from that stunning defeat had grown faint, South Africa’s 2-0 victory has delivered another almighty shock to home fans.
“There was an aura around the Indian team when playing in India. You can see it disappearing in the distance,” commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote on X after India suffered their heaviest defeat in terms of runs in the second test on Wednesday.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was even booed in Guwahati after overseeing India’s fifth defeat in their last seven home tests.
“Once lions at home, now lambs to the slaughter,” read a headline in the Indian Express newspaper.
For a generation India had remained, in former Australia captain Steve Waugh’s words, the “final frontier”, where home spinners routinely dismantled touring teams on turning tracks.
“Teams used to be scared to come to India to play test cricket,” player-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik said on social media. “Now they must be licking their lips.
“These are tough times for India in test cricket and tough decisions might have to be taken.”
India appear to be going through a tough transition phase in the wake of batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ending their test careers.
One of India’s biggest concerns is how spin is being used as a weapon against them instead of a weakness for them to exploit in other teams.
The once familiar sight of nimble-footed, whippy‑wristed Indian batters dominating spin looks a distant memory, replaced by the horror of watching South Africa off-spinner Simon Harmer wreak havoc by taking 17 wickets over the two tests.
The 201 runs India managed in Guwahati was their highest innings total in the series, and only two local batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja – managed a fifty in their four innings.
India played four spinners in the first test and three in the second but were unable to unsettle the South Africa batters, who had both the plan and the skill to master turn.
However, captain Shubman Gill, who missed the second test after suffering a neck injury in the opener, said India would be stronger for the setbacks.
“Calm seas don’t teach you how to steer, it’s the storm that forges steady hands,” he wrote on social media. “We’ll continue to believe in each other, fight for each other, and move forward – rising stronger.”
1729471601-0/image-(8)1729471601-0-640x480.webp "Pakistan’s crisis differs from world | The Express Tribune")
Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket released Sunday.
The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, dropping just seven sets. They lead Division I in hitting percentage at .352.
Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a Nebraska player and assistant, took over at her alma mater this season after longtime Huskers coach John Cook retired. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.
The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title, and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers reached the final four the past four seasons but lost in the semifinals each time.
Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head matchup 3-2 at Stanford on Nov. 14. But the Panthers’ overall body of work secured them the last No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Texas’ region.
SEC regular-season and tournament champion Kentucky defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals should they advance that far.
Defending national champion Penn State, the only school that has appeared in every NCAA tournament dating back to the event’s start in 1981, is a No. 8 seed in Texas’ quarter of the bracket. St. Thomas (Minnesota) and Toledo are both making their first appearance in the tournament.
The Big 12 led all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC seven and the SEC five.
Early-round matches will be held from Dec. 4 to 6 on campus sites. The regionals, scheduled for Dec. 11-14, will be hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket.
The final four is at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was there that Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.
The national semifinals are Dec. 18 (ESPN), and the championship match is Dec. 21 (ABC).
The Commanders return from their bye week searching for their first victory since Oct. 5. It won’t be easy against the Broncos, who have won eight straight.
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Ruben Amorim has said that Manchester United are “stealing” set-piece routines from other clubs after goals from two free-kicks helped earn a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
United came from behind at Selhurst Park thanks to second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, both of which came from Bruno Fernandes set plays.
Amorim’s team have now scored 10 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season — joint most with table-toppers Arsenal.
“We work a lot,” Amorim said when asked about United’s improvement at set-pieces.
“We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.
“I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”
United looked destined for another set-back following Monday’s defeat to 10-man Everton when Crystal Palace went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a retaken penalty from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
But there was marked improvement in their performance after the break as Amorim’s team recorded just their second league win away from home since March.
“I just said to the players we need to be more alive and you can feel that,” Amorim said.
– Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee inspire Man United comeback win at Crystal Palace
– Zirkzee leads Man United comeback in game of two halves vs. Palace
– Premier League table
“So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often. I think everyone did that.
“But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired also in the second half.
“And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers right away a goal, you felt that we had the control of the game and that’s it.”
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