Soon after the final rites of the Hyderabad Test were read and the formalities of the post-game handshakes were completed, Rohit Sharma was pictured standing by the boundary line, ready to share his thoughts on the remarkable turn of events that marked his 12th game as India Test captain with the rest of the world via broadcasters. Despite the disappointing outcome, a swarm of Indian fans continued to clap and chant his name, which Rohit recognized with a half-hand raise and a smile of recognition.

The Indian captain is one of the few who can de-emphasize any cricketing circumstance and view it for what it is. An air of careless lightness defines his demeanor. He correctly accepted that his side was undone by an outstanding performance in the third innings and batting apprehension in the fourth. One was an exception, whereas the other was typical for these settings.

However, these two occurrences collectively meant that Rohit added a fourth ‘L’ to his captaincy record, resulting in losses in one-third of the Tests he led. Within the last year, two of them have returned to their homes. And, while India had previously lost home Tests, including the opening Tests in marquee series in Pune in 2017 and Chennai in 2021, this one came from a position of complete dominance and even appeared to obscure their aura of home invincibility in a sudden, weird mist.

The last time India went three straight home Tests without a win (two losses and a tie) was nearly 12 years ago, and that is still the last series they have lost at home. While England has a long way to go before repeating their amazing performance of 2012, they may have simply caught Rohit’s team in a similar position of inevitable change.

It’s an uncomfortable and different situation for Rohit, whose takeover of the white-ball teams was more fluid and resulted in rapid success if you’re happy with measuring success based on win percentages rather than only the ICC trophy. Between him and coach Rahul Dravid, India vows to be more tactically aware, as well as to have discovered and applied current playing styles.

His Test captaincy, which has yet to last two years, comes just as he enters middle age. However, it appears that the great Test team he inherited has entered its third age. Old certainties are melting, and replacements have either made sputtering starts or not started at all. Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav appear to have played their final Tests, while Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and even KL Rahul have been worn out by all-format cricket. Even the resilient Virat Kohli has missed seven Tests since the turn of the decade, and bold keeper-bat Rishabh Pant hasn’t played in almost a year.

Vacancies rarely arise in teams where everything is functioning smoothly; this is an old management cliche. It’s one thing to replace players in an XI, let alone a group of players deserving of being considered among the best the country has produced.

In the ones listed above. 2012 season, as India’s great batting generation faded away, a new one emerged. Pujara returned to the lineup following the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, scoring three hundreds in his first four Tests. Kohli earned his first Test century in Adelaide and then his first at home against New Zealand. By 2016, at a comparable stage in Kohli’s rule, India had two world-class spinners and three good middle-order batters, all of whom were reaching their best performances concurrently.

That sense of predictability, particularly with the bat at home, has vanished in Rohit’s team, and this is partly due to the types of wickets on which India plays Test cricket. Shubman Gill, in his fourth season of Test cricket, has an average of 29.53 after 21 games. Shreyas Iyer is in his third season and has not made a half-century in a Test match since December 2022. Yashasvi Jaiswal is five Tests old. In the following Test, these three could be joined by Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar, also debutants.

Rohit, who is three months off of his 37th birthday, has been tasked with achieving the short-term goal of returning to the series, in which India remains the favorites, but also laying the groundwork for the team’s long-term success. It is an unpleasant work of balance, and many aspects of it, such as discovering world-class talent, are beyond his control.

The future, however, may look back on this period and judge him, for better or worse. And a modest sequence of games could have a significant impact on both his legacy and his immediate future. At the very least, he could have avoided an opposition determined to rip up all existing reference playbooks.

India rarely loses at home, and when they do, they win by such large percentages that they are easily dismissed as the Tuesday after a Monday. They’ve had to cope with a lot of strain while doing what they’ve been doing for over ten years. This week, Visakhapatnam will see a lot more of it than usual.