India, Nov. 27 -- After a 12-year stretch in which India never lost a home Test series, a run often hailed as one of the greatest in cricket history, the team has now slumped to two whitewashes in the past year. They went down 0-3 to New Zealand in November 2024 before losing 0-2 to reigning World Test champions South Africa. Although head coach Gautam Gambhir, under whose tenure both defeats occurred, said in Wednesday's post-match presser that he was not there to make "excuses", he still listed several reasons for the slide, with "transition" being a key one. But former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad lashed out at Gambhir, urging him to stop hiding behind that excuse and accept his mistakes.

Gambhir refused to compare the two whitewashes...