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The Eden Gardens Test match between India and South Africa is a case study of how teams can falter and come up with horrific performances if hits and misses from the past are not taken into account. It is an open secret that the batters of the Indian team are not as effective against spin bowling as they used to be a few years back. Gone are the days when Indian batters could make a mockery out of rank turners and decimate their opposition.

India opting for rank turners at home is nothing but a huge gamble and the Eden Test match is a testament to it. India fell short by 30 runs while trying to chase down 124 on a pitch they themselves demanded. Sounds strange, but it pretty much sums up the fact that the art of playing spin is dying and India are no longer invincible against the turning red cherry.

Chasing At Home On Spinning Tracks: IND's Biggest Woe In Test Cricket

After the first Test match between India and South Africa ended, the spotlight shifted towards the Eden Gardens pitch. Credit must be given to Indian Head Coach Gautam Gambhir who admitted to the fact that the curator had prepared the pitch exactly how the hosts, India wanted. The blame for the loss can't be shifted on transition, considering the fact that India just needed 124 runs to win the Test match. New Zealand clean sweeping India in India last year shook the foundations of the Test team, but did the team management learn any lessons from it? Definitely not.

Under Gautam Gambhir, the Indian team has played eight home Test matches. Two against Bangladesh (IND won 2-0), three against New Zealand (NZ won 3-0), two against West Indies (IND won 2-0) and one against South Africa (SA won by 30 runs). Out of the eight Test matches, India have managed to win only four, that too against Bangladesh and West Indies, something that Gautam Gambhir can't wear as a badge of honour.

Over-experimentation by the team management has done no good to India either. Out of nowhere Washington Sundar was slotted in to play at number three. What baffled everybody was the fact that when the ball was turning fair and square, Sundar bowled only one over in the second innings. Nobody can really wrap his/her head around this strategy.

Adding on to this catalyst of unnecessary over-experimentation is the aspect of denial which clearly led to India's downfall at the mighty Eden. This is not the first time that India were spin-choked in their own pitch ploy. When New Zealand clean swept India last year, Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner took 24 wickets across two Test matches.

Guwahati Pitch Under Focus After Eden Debacle

Unfortunately for India, they can now draw the series after having themselves shot in the foot in the Eden Gardens Test. South Africa hadn't started this Test series as favourites, but they have certainly lived up to the title of being the World Test Champions. It is yet to be seen if India demand for a similar kind of a wicket in the next Test match that is scheduled to be played in Guwahati.