Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee says India underplayed the threat New Zealand posed. It was indeed a shocking 0-3 whitewash for India at home and more than 10 days since India lost a home series. For 11 years, that result denied them their unbeaten run. The New Zealand spinners dismantled the Indian batting lineup, with Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel doing all the damage for New Zealand. Such heavy losses – an eight-wicket defeat in Bengaluru and a 113-run loss in Pune – snapped India’s 18-series winning run at home.

What Went Wrong For Team India Against New Zealand?

A worrying trend from India’s defeat was the approach of its batters, many of whom seemed to lack the patience for long innings. They tried to bully the New Zealand bowlers too soon instead of working into building relationships, and it rebounded in their faces in several matches as they were bowled out cheaply.

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Was India Overconfident?

Brett Lee feels that India’s relaxed attitude may have cost them the match; long overseas domination might have made them a bit complacent at home. This is an attitude, he feels, which has arisen out of the belief that they are virtually invincible on home turf.

India Took Kiwis Very Lightly

“Is it a T20 issue? Were the batsmen too attacking? Is it a skill issue? Is it a problem with them not taking the Kiwis too seriously? I think yes, on all formats. They went into the series thinking that we’ll just whitewash the Kiwis, thinking that’s going to be an easy series. And that’s no disrespect to the Kiwis. It’s just that India are so powerful, so strong on home soil,” Brett Lee said on his YouTube channel.

India’s Next Big Challenge: Border-Gavaskar Trophy

“This is a great learning curve for all out there. Probably not for Aussies because now they’ve got to understand that India will be much-better prepared. They are going to come in strong. They would have got a kick up the backside from their coach, Gautam Gambhir. This is atrocious, the way they played but they are still a team of champions. They have had a downfall over the last couple of weeks; it does happen in cricket. But this is the time to turn it into positives. The Kiwis caught India off-guard,” he added.

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India Inconsistent After T20 World Cup Win

Since they won the T20 World Cup in June, India has been inconsistent. Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, the team has been showing extremes: dominant series wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but also disappointing 0-3 defeats to both Sri Lanka and New Zealand. While Lee admitted the shock of seeing India struggle he was optimistic that they will find their rhythm again, especially with the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia, starting on November 22 in Perth. Australia too is having their own share of battles, so will be India as well, looking to bounce back and regain the form that had helped them outplay Australia on the latter’s home soil in both 2021 and 2023.