Ignominy at Guwahati - what ails Indian team - the grovel remark !!!

At a time, when we started watching Cricket in mid 1970s, India was a formidable bowling Team – no pacers, but quality Spinners – the quartet of Bishan Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Anandasundara Prasanna & Srinivasan Venkatraghavan that could win matches – yet the batting was very weak – over dependent on Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath – later when the middle order became strong and with emergence of Kapil Dev – India became a force to reckon with in Tests too.  What ails the Indian Test team now?

 

The scorecard is ignominy !!  South Africa 489 (Muthusamy 109, Jansen 93, Kuldeep 4-115) and 260 for 5 decl. (Stubbs 94, de Zorzi 49, Jadeja 4-62) beat India 201 (Jaiswal 58, Washington 48, Jansen 6-48) and 140 (Jadeja 54, Harmer 6-37) by 408 runs  ~ coming as it does after the loss in First test and a 3-0 drubbing in the hands of New Zealand, it is indeed very depressing for the ardent Indian fan. 

In front of empty stands in India's newest Test venue - Guwahati, South Africa competed their utter domination of the hosts with a whitewash and their heaviest Test defeat in terms of runs. More than just the order of session breaks was turned upside down in India's eastern-most Test ground where South Africa sealed their first series win in India in 25 years and India's second series defeat in 12 months after 12 years of spotless record. Simon Harmer out-bowled by miles the home spinners in a country, whose ordinary tour in 2015 resulted in a seven-year hiatus for him in Test cricket. No one has now taken more wickets at a better average in a series in India than his 17 wickets at 8.94. Marco Jansen was a little behind with 12 at 10.08. 

At the start of 2025, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad encouraged his team to "just dream a bit" because "some of the best things happen in dreams" and they ran with it. They had already qualified for the World Test Championship final and dreamt of winning it. But even after that, even in their wildest dreams, they didn't go as far as thinking they would sweep a series in India, nevermind subject them to their worst home defeat. That was something they only believed when it became reality. 

After a 12-year period in which India won every Test series they played at home, they have now lost two out of three in the space of just over a year: 3-0 last year to New Zealand, and now 2-0 to South Africa. These results have coincided with the tenure of Gautam Gambhir, who took over as India head coach in July 2024. Asked whether he still believed he was the right man for the job, particularly in Test cricket, Gambhir said he wasn't the man to take that call. 

All the focus on the home defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, Gambhir suggested, was taking away from his achievements as head coach, including a 2-2 Test-series draw in England and white-ball victories in the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup this year. "I'm the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team," he said.   

India's batting, in particular, has been manned by a number of young, inexperienced players. "I don't give excuses. I've never done that in the past. I will never do it in the future as well. But four or five batters in this top eight have literally played less than 15 Test matches [each], and they will grow. They're learning on the job. They're learning on the field. The defeat in Guwahati was India's heaviest by a runs margin in Tests. 

If one were to ask what ails the Test team – it is lack of order in the middle – a line up of Sai Sudarshan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishab Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar + Shubman Gill is not at all  inspiring – in India – against regular Spinners, this team is unable to fight / play out 100 odd overs and is getting bowled out for sub-par scores !  ~  when a Team loses so badly, no point in continuing with the same players and getting the same result.  Though it may sound harsh, chop many / change the Coach and support staff / change the team that selected them too !! 

Gautam Gambhir is a seasoned campaigner – he made his bat talk during his hay days.  58 Tests 4154 runs 9 tons; 147 ODIs 5238 runs; 11 tons; 37 T20Is 932 runs all speak – on the other side is Shukri Conrad, relatively not a great talent but highly successful as coach. 

Shukri Conrad   led the team to victory in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final. Conrad played first-class cricket for Western Province teams both before and after the end of racial segregation. He was later a long-serving coach of Cape Cobras and also coached Gauteng and Highveld Lions. He was briefly coach of the Uganda national cricket team.  When South Africa coach Conrad was asked for a reason they had persisted to bat on despite having a sizeable lead on board, he had said with a smile: "We wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field, we wanted them to really grovel.".. .. and it has caused flutter across !! 

The use of the word—made infamous in cricketing folklore when it was used by England’s Tony Grieg before a series against West Indies in 1976, which led to the team from the Caribbean sweeping England in England by a 3-0 margin in a five-match Test series—did not sit right with the local broadcaster’s panel of former cricketers.   This  has triggered a major racism row, with fans and former players calling the phrase historically loaded and offensive. The comment has sparked heated debate across social media and the cricketing community. 

The comment came after the conclusion of Day 4 of the second Test in Guwahati, where South Africa, in a commanding position, prolonged their second innings to set India an unattainable target of 549 runs. While Conrad appeared to use the term—which means to crawl or lie abjectly on the ground—in the context of making the Indian players physically toil, his admission that he was "stealing a phrase" immediately triggered the historical parallel that has led to the current racism row. The controversy stems directly from the infamous statement made by then-England captain Tony Greig—a white South African-born cricketer—in 1976 before his team’s series against the West Indies. Greig declared he intended "to make them grovel" before his side.  In the racial and colonial climate of the 1970s, Greig’s comment was widely condemned as demeaning and racially insensitive. The word, used by a figure with roots in apartheid South Africa against a team predominantly comprising descendants of slaves and indentured labourers, was interpreted as a slur against the dignity and pride of the Caribbean people. The remark served as an emotional rallying cry for the West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, who went on to crush England 3-0 in the series. The term is now etched in cricketing history as a stark example of racial arrogance.  

Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel had slammed South Africa coach Conrad. "There’s history attached to this. Fifty years ago, an England captain used the same phrase... humility is most important when you’re on top," Kumble stated, urging the coach to show restraint. South African great Dale Steyn also distanced himself from the remark, calling it "disappointing" and a word that should never be uttered on a cricket field.  

Despite Conrad being a person of colour himself, critics argue that the term’s explosive historical context makes its usage unacceptable, regardless of the speaker’s intent or background. While the coach's objective was clearly psychological warfare, the choice of a phrase indelibly linked to one of the sport's most significant racial episodes has overshadowed South Africa's dominant performance. 

Moving away – the Q prominent in the minds of ardent Indian fan is – what ails Indian Team and what would be the remedial measures ?.  Continuing with the same strategy for the problems is likely to give the same results is History !

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
27.11.2025