Even when the series was done and dusted after New Zealand won the first two Tests, there were still hopes of Team India pulling themselves up in the final contest and avoiding an embarrassing whitewash at home. But the famed batting line-up bungled yet again.

Yes, the unpredictable Wankhede pitch threw up surprises, and batting in the fourth innings wasn’t going to be easy. That said, New Zealand hadn’t set a 200-plus target.

All that the Indians needed was 147 on Day III of the third and final Test. But their batting group’s ineptness against spin was found out again as New Zealand won the Test by 25 runs on Sunday, inflicting a 3-0 thrashing on their much-fancied rivals.

For India to reach the World Test Championship final, they must win the upcoming Australia series 4-0. That is, if they are to qualify without depending on the results of other teams.

Ever since Gautam Gambhir has taken up the coaching reins, extra emphasis seems to have been put on fearless cricket. Now, some of the current India batsmen don’t appear to understand the difference between being fearless and reckless, and that includes captain Rohit Sharma.

This was an ideal opportunity for Rohit to come up with a captain’s knock and regain some form before the Australia tour. But all he did was throw his wicket away with a needless pull off Matt Henry.

The dismissals of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal then boiled down to their general shortcomings against spin. To make matters worse for India, Sarfaraz Khan hit a juicy full toss from Ajaz Patel straight to deep mid-wicket.

If not for Rishabh Pant (64), who has a habit of thriving in adversity, and his partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar after India wobbled at 29/5, the margin of defeat would have been much bigger.

With due respect to Ajaz (6/57), the left-arm spinner doesn’t look to be having many tricks in his armoury. Even the arm ball or the one that goes straight — which cleaned up Gill — rarely comes out of his hand. Yet, he was able to wreck India with a match-haul of 11 wickets.

Pant dismissal

As long as Pant was at the crease, New Zealand looked out of sorts, particularly after India’s total crossed 100. But then Pant was adjudged out in a debatable manner.

Television replays showed a slight deflection as the ball passed Pant’s bat and lobbed up before keeper Tom Blundell pouched it. The path of that delivery from Ajaz also seemed to deviate a little while passing the bat.

Pant tried to make his point to the on-field umpires, trying to suggest that the spike was due to his bat hitting the pad. But the third umpire overturned the not-out decision and Pant had to depart.

Skipper Rohit was not pleased with the decision. “About that dismissal, honestly, I don’t know. If we say something, it is not accepted well. But if there is no conclusive evidence, it has to stand with the umpire’s on-field decision. That is what I have been told. So I don’t know how that decision was overturned, since the umpire didn’t give him out.”