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India’s batting collapse on Day 3 of the Guwahati Test has dragged back an old and uncomfortable ghost, the follow-on taboo on home soil. For a team that once treated home Tests as fortresses, the sight of India scrambling merely to avoid batting twice is jarring. South Africa’s dominating 489 and India’s freefall from 95/1 to 105/5 exposed a gulf far wider than expected. And though Bavuma eventually declined to enforce the follow-on after bowling India out for 201, the damage, and the embarrassment. was already done.
IND vs SA: India’s Guwahati collapse against South Africa reopens an old wound
India’s reply to South Africa’s mammoth 489 unravelled in a way that felt both shocking and strangely familiar, invoking the long-buried trauma of Nagpur 2010, the last time India were forced to follow on at home. What began as a stable start turned into a chaotic freefall, with four wickets tumbling for just ten runs and the entire batting order seemingly caught between indecision and intimidation. From 95/1 to 105/5, India’s innings disintegrated under the relentless pressure of disciplined South African bowling, exposing not only technical cracks but strategic confusion within the camp.
The absence of Shubman Gill, the elevation of Rishabh Pant to stand-in captaincy, and the ongoing imbalance in India’s middle order all contributed to the collapse, transforming a once-manageable chase into a survival battle. Even the traditionally trusted home advantage on turning tracks could not shield India this time, as the Proteas dictated the pace, tone, and rhythm of the Test.
By Lunch on Day 3, with India at 174/7, the impending specter of the follow-on grew heavier, turning a competitive Test into a rescue mission. Bavuma’s eventual decision not to enforce the follow-on after India folded for 201 spared India the formal humiliation, but not the implication: South Africa had comprehensively outplayed them, and India were clinging by their fingernails. The psychological damage of merely nearing the follow-on mark at home may prove more damning than the scoreboard itself.
Also WATCH: Aiden Markram plucks a one-handed blinder to dismiss Nitish Reddy on Day 3 of second Test – IND vs SA
IND vs SA: India’s home dominance crumbling and repeated batting failures
The Guwahati collapse is not an isolated event but yet another link in a chain of troubling patterns that have emerged over the past year. India, once immovable at home, have now endured a whitewash by New Zealand, a crushing defeat in Kolkata, and now a near-follow-on catastrophe against South Africa. These trends point beyond poor sessions, they highlight deeper issues of team balance, selection logic, and batting fragility.
India’s identity has traditionally revolved around batting mastery on turning tracks, but the recent lineup appears neither settled nor suited to prolonged Test combat. Constant chopping and changing, over-reliance on inexperienced middle-order batters, and tactical hesitations have created instability that visiting teams are exploiting with clinical precision.
In Guwahati, South Africa did not merely dominate; they dismantled India’s confidence, forcing them into a position of desperation rather than control. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav’s gritty 52-run stand only underlined how the top and middle order had failed to provide the solidity expected at home.
The requirement to reach at least 289 merely to make the Proteas bat again showcased how far the innings had derailed. Ultimately, even though South Africa chose not to enforce the follow-on and opted to bat again, India’s eventual total of 201 laid bare the fragility of a team that once prided itself on being unshakeable at home. The Guwahati Test didn’t just expose a collapse it exposed a crisis of planning, confidence, and identity.
Here’s how fans reacted:
There’s only one team that can win this test from here, and that’s definitely not India
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha)
Kuldeep Yadav ended up facing more balls than any other Indian batter in a single innings in this series. That pretty much sums up India batting at home.
— Vijay Anaparthi (@VijayCricketFan)
Not often you see a visiting team outplay India with both bat and ball in spin conditions. South Africa once again showing why they’re the reigning WTC champions
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)
Somehow South Africa is always able to produce quality cricketers.
It’s not even their first sport.India on the other hand with all the money cannot produce quality test batters.
Strange.— Osman Siddiqi (@OsmanSiddiqi4)
India should stop playing Test cricket. The players have No temperament of playing test cricket…They are IPL Heros only. @ Guwahati they scored only 201…
— Debananda Bhatta (@DebanandaBhatt6)
6 wickets for Jansen, what a match he’s having! India are bowled out for 201 with a lead of 288 and SA will bat again! Dominating India in their back yard, who would’ve thought?
— Eems (@NaeemahBenjamin)
When SA was batting, it felt like its a batting pitch
When India is batting, it feels like a bowling pitch.— chacha monk (@oldschoolmonk)
South Africa Batting again.
They saves India from the Innings defeat.— CR Fan (@crfan0007)
This is the Nth time Washington Sundar saving India from a similar situation, man's batting ability and consistency is criminally underrated
— VJ Vishnu (@EnduranceSpin)
South Africa has bowled India out for 201 and got a whopping 288 lead in the first innings 🫡
World champions are on the course of the historical test series win in India
— Indoosan (@Indooshan)
Also WATCH: IND vs SA: Jasprit Bumrah castles Simon Harmer with a ripping jaffa on Day 2 of the Guwahati Test
