Why Is It Becoming Impossible For Other Teams To Beat India At Home?

December 9, 2012, was the last time Team India tasted defeat in Test cricket at home.

That was the day when India not only lost the match but also the series against England, led by match-winning efforts from spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar.

But it has been nearly four years and India have come a full circle during this period.

The Indian cricket team is going back to Eden Gardens for its second match against New Zealand. But much water has flown under the bridge during these four years.

India have not lost a single match after the England series and has whitewashed nearly every team that has visited during this period.

NDTV's cricket expert Sunil Gavaskar gave full marks to the home team.

"The skill level of Indian batsman and bowlers has been better than the players that have been visiting India. Indian players have been able to find good partnerships, either with the bat or with the ball," said Gavaskar.

Undefeated since 2013

Since 2013, India have played 11 matches on their soil. Ten of them have resulted in victories while one ended in a draw. The draw in Bengaluru versus South Africa came not due to any resistance from the Proteas but due to rain Gods. After Day 1, the other four days were simply washed out.

During this period of four years, India whitewashed Australia 4-0, cleansweeped the West Indies 2-0 (Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series), polished off South Africa 3-0 in a four-match series (Proteas lost their No.1 ranking during this series) and are comfortably leading 1-0 in the ongoing three-match Test series against New Zealand.

Two key words: Application and Skill

It's not that the teams that have travelled to India have lacked any preparation. Australians and South Africans are known for their meticulous planning and preparation before any tour.

It's simply the alien conditions that these teams face when they play on turning tracks.

Having been born and brought up with pace and bounce on their home pitches, to see a spinner bowling the first over of the match is something that is unimaginable for these players.

On the dusty and worn pitches of India, the ball spins, jumps, keeps low or, in some cases, simple goes straight.

Even the bowler is not aware of what the ball will do after pitching. 

In these conditions, the batsman have to show a great level of patience and concentration which is easy to say but difficult to implement. There has not been one single batsman who has made any dents in the Indian bowling line-up. Some have tried to slog and hit the bowler out, while some have tried to stay on as long as possible on Indian wickets, but none have succeeded.

Teams have tried to bring three or four spinners with them but that is not a guarantee of success.

The foreign spinners lack the consistency and patience required on these pitches and often fail to put pressure on Indian batsman. After Panesar and Swann in 2012, there have been no spinners that have been able to fox the Indian batsman.

India have a long and testing home season this time around with 13 Tests scheduled. Australia and England are going to travel to India in the coming months and they are going to be tougher than before.

Though the Indian team under Virat Kohli has made a winning start against the Kiwis at Kanpur, it would need a collective team effort and superlative performance from everyone to see that the team remains unbeaten on its home soil in the next few months.