Will a 30-Year Golden Streak End in Guwahati? Team India’s Century Drought Raises Big Questions

Guwahati:
India’s batting woes have deepened in the ongoing Test series against South Africa. Across three innings, no Indian batter has managed to score a century, raising the possibility that a historic 30-year record might finally be broken.

In the first Test, India were bundled out for 189 in the opening innings and collapsed to 93 all out in the second. The second Test in Guwahati has shown little improvement — India managed only 201 runs in their first innings.

No Century in the Entire Series So Far

This series has been brutal for batters. India has not produced a single hundred, and even half-centuries have been rare.

• No fifties in the first Test
• Only Yashasvi Jaiswal managed a fifty in Guwahati
  On the South African side, only three scores of 50+ have come, including a century by Senuran Muthusamy.

A 30-Year Tradition at Risk

India is known for its strong batting performances at home. Remarkably, for the last 30 years, Indian batters have scored at least one century in every home Test series.
The last time India failed to produce a century in a home series was in 1995 against New Zealand. Even then, despite no centuries, India won the series 1–0, with the remaining matches affected by rain.
Mohammad Azharuddin’s 87 was the highest score for India in that series.

The Final Chance

India now has only one innings left in this series — and it will be the fourth innings of the match, usually the toughest to bat on. If no player reaches triple figures, India’s 30-year golden streak of home-series centuries will finally come to an end.