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India's shocking 0-2 loss to the Proteas in the recently concluded Test series has left the team reeling.

In the final match, the visiting team gave India a record loss in Test cricket, contrary to predictions. It was South Africa's first series win in the subcontinent in two and a half decades and the host nation's second home series loss in just one year after a 12-year invincible streak.

The winning rhythm established in the previous half-year has all but vanished and the futures of several players - as well as head coach the coach - are under scrutiny.

Initial Hope Disappears

The new-look squad's impressive performance in the UK this season, under a fresh leadership, suggested a smooth transition after the almost concurrent departures of key players R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli.

A straightforward 2-0 victory over West Indies at the start of the home season enhanced that perception, until the South Africans arrived to deliver a devastating defeat.

India were a tad unfortunate that leader Gill suffered an injury early on in the first Test and took no further part in the contest. Yet that neither explains nor absolves the team of the terribly sub-par performance in the two games against the opposition.

Several established players took a hit, and several players aspiring to lengthy Test careers were revealed to be not up to the mark - technically or mentally - for the format.

A Troubling Pattern

This represented the second clean sweep on home soil suffered by the Indian team in just over a year. Last year, little-fancied the Kiwis had pulled off a staggering 3-0 triumph which essentially denied the hosts a spot in the Test championship finale.

The fresh failure to the Proteas threatens to derail India's hopes of making the showpiece of this edition too.

From number three in the Test championship standings ahead of the matches, India have fallen to number five. Though nine additional matches are remaining, a majority are against Australia. Typically, playing at home would be a significant benefit - even when facing the mighty Aussies. However the debacles against the Kiwis and South Africa leave little scope for such comfort.

Reasons for the Slump

The national team's frailty in the longer format has been significantly highlighted. That said, why India have performed so poorly in Tests at home in recent times is still bewildering.

From the year 2000 onwards, India were considered unbeatable in Test cricket in home conditions. Under sweltering weather and on tracks that helped spin and aided their squad, the hosts faced little challenge. The occasional loss, such as in 2012-13 against the English, was viewed as an anomaly.

Currently, the team look to be easy pickings in their own backyard.

Against New Zealand in 2024 and South Africa this year, the home side were hoisted by their own petard. The tracks they curated to favor their game backfired spectacularly, as opponents exploited them better, beating India's batsmen and bowlers when it was most crucial.

The Core Issue

Certain analysts propose that India is struggling at home because domestic pitches have been changed from turners to pace-friendly pitches to prepare players to do well in foreign conditions.

Others highlight that the domestic T20 league, in which several international stars participate, has removed the unfamiliarity and challenge Indian conditions would present to them in the past.

Even though there is validity in each argument, it fails to account for why the side's results at home have witnessed such a dramatic drop.

Various Shortcomings

Most former players point to a complicated issue, not only a couple of reasons.

Experts and participants have pointed to multiple deficiencies after the team's humiliating loss to the Proteas: not respecting the foe, lack of preparation, poor choices, excessive self-belief, regular alterations of the playing XI, and emphasizing white-ball over Test cricket.

This was obvious in the showings of the team.

Cricketers like Pant and Jaiswal, of whom great things were anticipated, paid for their carelessness, while Sai Sudarshan, Reddy, and Jurel - who were hoping to secure their place in the team - came up short in technique and temperament, facing the fallout for their lackadaisical method.

Only a handful - Jadeja, Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Siraj and Sundar - fulfilled their skill and fame - but not sufficiently to win matches.

Coaching Scrutiny

The post-mortem also included the entire setup - selectors and backroom team were also criticized, driven by disappointed supporters and critical former players. In the spotlight of the scrutiny was mentor Gautam Gambhir.

In his post-series press