In addition to being a statistical shock, India’s first-ever home loss in a bilateral ODI series against New Zealand was also a moment of unsettling clarity, as captain Shubman Gill did not hide behind the margin of defeat or missing players.
Instead, the India skipper exposed a trend that, in his words, “made the difference between the two teams” in his remarks following Sunday’s defeat in the series-deciding match in Indore.
“For me, it wasn’t that we didn’t bat well. It was that we didn’t bat long enough. When batsmen are getting starts and they’re not able to convert those starts, especially in high-scoring matches, it becomes very difficult. At least two batters need to go on and play that long innings,” Gill said after the 41-run defeat at Holkar Stadium.
“That was the difference between them and us.”
Throughout the series, India struggled to convert promising starts into game-winning runs, even in Indore, where Virat Kohli’s century momentarily seemed to turn the tide. Gill kept bringing up the difference with New Zealand’s strategy.
“Whenever their batsmen got set, they scored long. That’s the difference. Even in the first two matches, I got set, but I wasn’t able to convert it into 100, 120 or 130, and that’s something we need to get better at as a batting unit.”
The topic of Ravindra Jadeja, whose bat and ball returns have declined over the past two to three years, was unavoidably brought up and instead of isolating the all-rounder’s difficulties, Gill was quick to put them in context.
“Jaddu bhai was looking in good touch with the bat. But it wasn’t just him. I don’t think any of our batsmen were able to consistently convert the starts we were getting. On pitches like these, if you don’t make those starts count, you’re always chasing the game.”
Gill also admitted that Jadeja’s ability to take wickets, which was once a key component of India’s ODI domination, hasn’t been the same lately.
“The way he has been bowling in the past couple of years, he has always been a strike option for us. It’s unfortunate he couldn’t pick as many wickets as he would have liked, but that happens in series like these. You learn from it and you grow.”
Another crucial element was India’s fielding errors, particularly when other teams continue to close the gap in Indian conditions and Gill acknowledged that lost opportunities caused momentum to change at crucial times.
“We dropped some catches at very important stages of the game. On wickets like these, bowlers are trying to force chances, and when those catches don’t stick, it’s not easy. No one drops a catch intentionally, but it’s one area we really have to improve.”
Despite the disappointment, Gill pointed out that Harshit Rana’s development as a lower-order batting option could influence India’s future ODI balance.
“Batting at number eight is a very important position for us. All the top teams in the world bat really deep. We want to give opportunities to players who can strengthen that depth, and Harshit is someone who is constantly improving his batting.”
Gill went on to explain why the team management finds Rana exciting.
“You don’t get too many bowlers who can consistently bowl at 140-plus with the height that he has. And the way he is batting right now, he keeps getting better. In the future, he can be a very good prospect for us,” he said.
Gill thinks the loss provides clarity rather than a crisis because the World Cup is still a long way off.
“The way we want to play, we haven’t been able to do it consistently in this series. But we have time. As long as all the players are aware of what we need to work on, hopefully in the next one or two series we can fix those areas and perform the way we want to,” he admitted.
