SA vs IND: Three reasons why India lost the Test series

India have never beaten South Africa in a Test series in their backyard and the win in the recently concluded series could have been seen just as the continuation of the domination South Africa have had over India at home. But it's not like that, it's a humungous achievement for Dean Elgar and his men. First, South Africa is not the same unit they used to be. Several key players have retired, the team is going through a transition and to come from behind to win the series is a staggering feat. India have been shell shocked. After a win in Centurion, they wouldn't have expected this outcome. However, they have been dealt with a reality that nothing can be taken for granted in cricket. Here in this article, we'll look at three reasons why India lost the Test and series.

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Lack of runs from senior batters

Despite the team doing well in recent times, the batting has been struggling. While Rahul, Rohit and Mayank have been solid at the top, runs from the middle order have been rare. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have hardly contributed. In both the losses, India collapsed after a good start as the senior players failed to contribute. It won't be an overstatement to say that the senior batters let the team down.

Team selection

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Over the last few years, India have lost quite a few games where the team combination has been questionable. In the 2018 tour of England, playing Kuldeep on a green track at Lords was a debatable decision. Playing Ishant Sharma ahead of an in-form Mohammed Siraj in the Test Championship final was also questioned by the fans. Leaving out Ashwin in the 20-20 World Cup matches was also not appreciated and in this series as well, despite the consistent failures of Rahane, leaving out Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vhari, who have been in great form, are some of the calls that will not go down well with the fans.

South Africa showed better character

It's not that South Africa annihilated India but they were far more confident in the final two games. Keegan Petersen and Dean Elgar showed the rest of the players from both sides that if you are willing to grind it out, you can survive against any attack and in any conditions. The two players single-handedly won the series for their side.