South Africa thrashed India by 408 runs to win the second Test on the fifth and final day in Guwahati to complete a 2-0 whitewash over the hosts on Wednesday (November 26).

The Proteas had won the first Test in Kolkata by 30 runs. With this Test series win, South Africa ended a 25-year wait in India.

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Set an improbable 549 to win, India were bowled out for just 140 in the second session. Ravindra Jadeja waged a lone battle, scoring an 87-ball 54.

India’s biggest loss

Marco Jansen, who played the perfect all-rounder in this Test match, took a one-handed stunner to skittle India for 140 in 63.5 overs and give the Temba Bavuma-led side a victory to cherish for a long time.

The loss marks another embarrassing chapter in India’s Test history, as it was their biggest loss in terms of runs.

This was the second time in a space of mere 13 months that India ended up whitewashed at home, severely denting their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC).

Under head coach Gautam Gambhir, India have now lost five Tests against New Zealand and South Africa at home. It is also the first time in 66 years that the team has lost 5 Tests in a space of seven months.

Offspinner Simon Harmer, who recorded career-best figures of 6/37, ended with a match haul of nine wickets.

The tourists outplayed India in all three departments, with Aiden Markram (9) setting the record for most catches in a Test match, overtaking Ajinkya Rahane’s eight claimed in 2015.

Sai Sudharsan’s excruciating 138-ball stay came to an end as Senuran Muthusamy had him caught by Markram soon after the second session began as India failed to reach even 150.

Inexplicable tactics

Courtesy Gambhir’s inexplicable tactics and selection calls, the aura of invincibility that once accompanied the team at home lay in tatters at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on a slightly nippy Wednesday afternoon.

Harmer’s career got a second wind as he decimated the Indian team with turn, bounce and zip off the same surface on which home bowlers looked pedestrian.

Once skipper Rishabh Pant (13) was dismissed failing to counter the bounce, the writing was on the wall.

The likes of Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Reddy, which is the new brigade in Test cricket simply didn’t have enough preparation to read a spinner from his hands.

Sudharsan scored 14 but was about to be dismissed about six times and looked like getting out to every delivery.

His lack of readiness was the buck that would stop at Gambhir’s door for his poor choice of personnel.

No support for Jadeja

Gambhir’s obsession with bits and pieces cricketers in the traditional format has left the team in flux, with none of the players sure about their places and roles in the team.

The impact of this defeat will have far-reaching implications in terms of confidence and pysche of the red-ball team going forward.

It wasn’t an easy pitch to survive on but the poor technique was disappointing along with the inability to read the drift, not playing with a soft bottom hand and a completely non-existent backfoot play.

Only Jadeja walked the talk when it came to putting up a good fight but there was no one at the other end to help the veteran.

In the end, lack of planning was evident and for the time, India look easily conquerable at home.

(With agency inputs)