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South Africa great calls for drastic overhaul: ‘Shorten IPL, play more Test cricket’ after India’s 2-0 home defeat
India have lost five of their last seven Tests at home, including two whitewashes under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Former South Africa cricketer Herschelle Gibbs did not mince words, sending a blunt message to the BCCI demanding a drastic overhaul in Indian cricket to help the team recover from its slump in red-ball cricket. His viral social media post came a day after India suffered their second home whitewash in 12 months, losing 0-2 to the Proteas.
India’s aura as a dominant force at home has faded, with the team losing five of its last seven Tests, including both whitewashes under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
In the wake of the defeat, which raised questions about India’s approach, especially after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma, Gibbs urged the BCCI to shorten the IPL window and make room for more Test matches in the calendar year.
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In an X-post, Gibbs wrote, “Shorten IPL and play more test cricket.”
The IPL has steadily increased its window over the years, both in duration and number of matches, impacting the international calendar. The inaugural season lasted just six weeks with 59 matches. Now, with 10 teams and more double-headers, the tournament stretches at least 10 weeks, often spilling into June. A longer IPL window means fewer available slots for international fixtures and leaves Indian players with less rest, which is often cited as a reason for their struggles in longer formats.
In November last year, India’s 12-year streak of not losing a Test series at home came to an end, as New Zealand scripted a historic 3-0 clean sweep. The defeat triggered a slump, with India subsequently losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in nearly a decade and getting eliminated from contention for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Exactly 12 months later, India find themselves in a similar situation, as the 0-2 defeat to the Temba Bavuma-led South African side left their WTC final hopes under serious threat. India slipped to fifth in the table, winning just four of their nine games so far.
The series also exposed India’s batting frailties at home, with the team averaging only 15.23 across the two Tests against South Africa. This is their second-lowest series average ever, after the 12.42 average against New Zealand at home in 2002/03.
Adding to the woes, India failed to register a single century in either Test. This is only the third time in history, after the New Zealand series in 1969/70 and 1995/96, that no individual hundreds were scored in a home Test series.
