An aura lost

At 12:34 PM on Wednesday, under the harsh afternoon sun of Guwahati, South Africa left India slack-jawed for one last time. Marco Jansen, with his long limbs, sprinted backwards, dived and took a one-handed catch near the straight boundary. South Africa players mobbing their lanky superstar after he pulled off the blinder will be one of the most defining snapshots of the last two weeks.

But the series will lend itself to a much bigger narrative than just this moment of individual brilliance. It will serve as a placeholder for the revelations it made, the questions it asked and the damning conclusions it offered. In eight days of cricket, South Africa stripped a team of its supposed superiority at home, exposing a naked version that is now as bereft of conviction and temperament as of skills to cut it in these conditions.

Test matches are a hard grind and results can't be taken for granted anywhere. But as of Wednesday, India have five home losses in seven Test matches. Their previous five such results span across 50 Tests and 13 seasons. It's also been four decades since India lost two Test series at home in two consecutive years. The proof of misery is in this perspective. However plausible Test defeats are, the rarity of it at home and the quick succession in which they've come have carried a sense of shock.

When the dust settles though, the first order of business for anyone who has watched this South Africa series objectively should be to doff their hats to Simon Harmer. Drift, turn, guile – he used it all, rode on India's spin vulnerabilities and almost showboated his way to a 17-wicket series haul.

India's fate here has been tied to their grim experiences from last year's series against New Zealand – the first installment of this two-part horror show, A Death By Spin Wreckage. There they were tripped up by extreme spin conditions that dwarfed the quality of the two attacks while also questioning the batters' technique against turn. But the loss to South Africa carries the doom of finality to India's home dominance. They just don't have it anymore.

Such was the situation that India couldn't do a straight swap without risking a line-up of seven left-handers.

India went back to old habits in Eden Gardens by rolling out a turner, after serving pitches without such main character energy for the West Indies Tests. An opposition arriving with a WTC mace in tow swayed their ideas, and the pitch offered turn – and a puff of dust, from the opening day. By the second, it deteriorated and the unreliable bounce consumed the home team inside two and a half days. The word from Gambhir in Kolkata was that this was to India's preference so that the toss could be taken out of the picture. But that narrative was flipped on arrival in Guwahati.

Losing their captain and the best Test batter of 2025 to injury hamstrung India severely, but their response to that also offered a glimpse into the flawed squad planning. Such was the situation that India couldn't do a straight swap without risking a line-up of seven left-handers. So they made two changes, taking out Axar Patel for Nitish Reddy while Sai Sudharsan replaced Gill.

In terms of the pitch, Guwahati offered an overcompensation. The first-time venue took the conversation away from it by rolling out a true belter, but the trade-off was that the toss became important again. Temba Bavuma won it and India tripped and fell on their face playing catch-up for the next five days. The progression and outcome of this Test was symbolic of the 180 degree turn to India's Test fortunes at home – they got beaten at their own game.

A Test tour of India has long been treated as the last great frontier. For visiting teams, the realistic aim has often been to challenge, push and at least make India sweat in their own backyard. Ben Stokes and his Bazballers rolled in early 2024 full of intent, eager to prove their methods could stand up here. They left with a 1-4 sized reality check.

Conversations with Shukri Conrad and Temba Bavuma over the last couple of weeks have also circled around whether a win here would outdo the lone ICC trophy that sits in South Africa's cabinet. They were earnest in saying that it'll be up there, even after turning that lofty ambition into reality.

In doing so, South Africa stripped away India's home persona. New Zealand had begun the erosion last year, and Bavuma's team piled on. What was once one of the most daunting addresses in Test cricket now looks fallible. That aura of invincibility is no longer something teams simply accept when they land here.