Disaster in Guwahati: India’s collapses occurring far too often now with rampant slide showing no signs of abating

Momentum is one of the most overused words in sport. It finds its way into physics textbooks too, but quite often, it is used in a sporting context to describe which team is on top and which team is playing catch-up. There is also another quirk about momentum – in that it takes a while to generate and takes something out of the ordinary to get transferred. Because, well, momentum cannot be created or destroyed. Physics 101, eh?

Anyway, that means when teams are riding a crest, they feel invincible. Everything goes right for them. Their decisions, on the field, off it, on the selection front – all work out. Conversely, when teams veer into a rut, they tend to stay there. And until there is a wind of change, that remains the case.

Much like it happens in most of India during the monsoon season, where if a dark or threatening cloud rolls in, it either drenches those in the vicinity completely, or needs something strong enough to blow it away, and clear the horizon.

Guwahati was not anything of this sort in a literal sense. The sun was blazing down as KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal walked out to begin day three . There was a bit of nip in the air, but nothing to bother the batters. The pitch was not playing tricks either. The odd ball may have held, or may have spun, but definitely not as frequently as it did in Kolkata.

Jaiswal and Rahul, for almost an hour, did what India needed them to. They put away the bad balls. Kept the good ones out. And looked primed to cash in, like their South African counterparts did earlier in the Test. But then, just as India were building a head of steam, that gust that would have cleared the dark clouds that had loomed over India (figuratively, of course), something broke. And it broke in a manner that has become uncannily common.

India’s batting response smacks of recklessness

Rahul was the first to depart. He was undone by a smart piece of bowling, with Keshav Maharaj getting the ball to drop on Rahul late, having drawn him forward. Rahul went searching for it in front of his body and Maharaj was able to extract just enough turn and bounce to take the outside edge.

An Indian batter being completely deceived by a visiting bowler was very much the anomaly on day three, though. Most of India’s dismissals before lunch were avoidable. Jaiswal could have bailed out of the stroke once he sensed the ball was not quite there for the back-foot punch. More so because he was batting on 58, had assessed the conditions and had looked largely untroubled up until then.

Sai Sudharsan could and should have shown more conviction when trying to put away a Simon Harmer drag-down – either by keeping it down or by getting under it completely. Dhruv Jurel, too, might have been better-served not swiping across the line on a surface that was showing signs of sluggishness, and to a ball that was hung up well outside off.

And the less said about Rishabh Pant – who swung like a rusty gate, swatted away flies and still contrived to nick it to the keeper - the better. It could be argued that that is what Pant usually does, but this current iteration smacked of some recklessness. The kind that India could have done without, especially from their skipper and especially on a track where Pant, had he spent more time at the crease, would have gotten opportunities to showcase his full repertoire.

All of these dismissals were made to look sillier by how Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar batted. The latter’s pedigree is growing by the day and he may even lay a claim to be one of the more technically-sound batters in the side. But the former, through determination, patience and better temperament on the day, kept South Africa at bay and ended up batting more balls than anyone else in an Indian shirt.

A confidence malaise permeating and sweeping through entire team

India would have loved for one of their batters to show that much application, and to get their teeth stuck into the contest. But all they witnessed was another indecisive and indifferent batting display . Indicating that the confidence malaise, which may have begun as an isolated case, is now permeating and sweeping through the entire team.

Batting has not been easy in India lately, owing to the conditions dished out, and the general demands modern-day batters have to juggle. But the Indian batters throwing wickets away was not ideal. Especially on a strip that was not doing a whole lot and where South Africa’s batters prospered.

Also Read | SA further underline WTC credentials in Guwahati as India’s aura of home invincibility suffers another blow

And while handing six wickets to Marco Jansen , who is a class bowler in his own right, is not the most outlandish possibility, India lost a chunk of them to short balls. On a slowish surface, and on a surface that had, barring a bit of tennis-ball bounce, not provided the pacers much.

The problem for India, thus, is no longer that they are having these collapses. That can happen to anyone, and it happens to everyone too. India, when at the peak of their powers, have overcome it, via contributions from their lower order, with their bowling quality subsequently shining.

But now, this is happening far too often. Far too often against quality bowling attacks. And far too often on pitches where their bowlers are not out-bowling the opposition, meaning that their batters’ struggles and shortcomings are leaving India clutching at straws, with oppositions increasingly confident of calling a Test on their terms. That most of them have been at home, where India had, until last year and since the mid-2010s, not even contemplated defeat, let alone be subjected to it, will only sting further.

And, the worst part (yes, there could be something worse), is that this slide is showing no signs of abating. After this Test series, India will have three more WTC assignments remaining in this cycle. One will take them to Sri Lanka, where they will face another trial by spin on turning tracks, whereas another will take them to New Zealand, which has been a bogey touring place for what feels like an eternity. And then there is a home Test series against Australia, which, until a year ago, may have been viewed as a possible point-winning exercise, but now, seems one fraught with danger and risk.

There is still time. Time for India to set things straight. To get better at what they have historically been good at. But for now, they are in a rut. And they will stay there unless things change. Like all teams without momentum tend to.

The dark cloud that has engulfed them will not blow over automatically, and in three innings against South Africa, India have not just been unable to escape it, they have perhaps also sprinted towards it through their lack of application.

And now that it is raining, it is pouring too, which is what history suggests almost always happens. A pitch with fewer demons, a city with no previous baggage and bright sunshine, and the desperation to level a series, could not avert it either.