Collapse as a Constant: India’s Unravelling at Eden Gardens

For a team that not long ago scaled the summit of world cricket, India’s ODI descent has been anything but subtle. What began as a stutter overseas has turned into a nosedive at home. The loss at Eden Gardens wasn't just a defeat; it was a symptom of systemic regression, another entry in a growing ledger of capitulations. In the space of eight months, India, then, endured eight consecutive Test defeats abroad, a home Test series defeat, and now, most damningly for a reigning world champion, a bilateral ODI series loss on home soil, their first in over three years.

The rot, once isolated, has spread. And nowhere is it more visible than in their batting order — once feared, now frail.

The Mirage of a Start, the Collapse That Followed

India’s innings began with illusion — a sedate but steady 42-run stand between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. But even in that phase, alarm bells rang. There were inside edges missing the stumps, half-committed drives flirting with fate, and a general lack of command over the conditions. Eight of those 42 runs came off wayward overthrows, not confident strokes. When the unravelling began, it did so with a vengeance.

From 42 for no loss, India slid to 95 for 5 in a manner as predictable as it was painful. The implosion followed a now-familiar script: tentative footwork, indecisive shot-making, and a top order unable to cope with even moderate lateral movement. Junaid Khan, once again, emerged as the enforcer of India’s demise, conjuring up a brilliant new-ball spell that would have done justice to the greats of the past. His figures — 7-1-18-2 — don’t fully convey the precision and menace he brought with the swinging ball.

Umar Gul, cerebral and quietly lethal, joined the act, dismissing a nervy Sehwag and then Yuvraj Singh with a bouncer the latter had no business playing at. Raina, peppered by short balls and undone by Mohammad Hafeez's subtle offspin, added to the growing tale of technical brittleness.

And so it came to rest, once again, on MS Dhoni — the solitary figure who seems to hold back the tide of humiliation with a calm born of duty, not delusion. With Ishant Sharma for company, Dhoni refused singles, farmed strike, and managed occasional boundaries, his expression betraying neither hope nor resignation — only resolve. He knew the end was coming, but not before he reminded us that in a crumbling house, there are still beams that hold.

Pakistan: Precision, Then Panic

That India had even a sliver of a target to pursue was thanks to a mid-innings Pakistani stutter. For 24 overs, Pakistan were imperious. Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez romped to 141 without loss, picking gaps with ease, especially through square and midwicket. The pitch seemed benign, the Indian bowlers toothless, and the crowd listless.

Then came Ravindra Jadeja.

Introduced as the spinner who could offer control and variety in Dhoni’s quest to minimise part-time bowling, Jadeja changed the game with a spell of guile and tempo disruption. Hafeez’s dismissal — a mistimed sweep that ballooned into oblivion — initiated Pakistan’s tailspin. Jadeja returned to claim Jamshed, who had by then grafted his way to a third straight century against India, and Kamran Akmal in the same over. The Eden crowd, long silenced, roared with revivalist belief.

India, to their credit, bowled with intensity and intelligence in the latter stages. Ishant was stingy, Ashwin accurate, and Jadeja electric. A middle-order choke, a tactical field from Dhoni that placed slips and short covers deep into the innings, and moments of opportunistic brilliance — such as the run-out of Azhar Ali and the stumping of Jamshed — culminated in a collapse few had foreseen. From 141 for 0, Pakistan lost all ten wickets for just 109 runs. The final tally of 250 was respectable, but far from commanding.

Yet, in hindsight, it was more than enough.

A Fragile Batting Order of India

What stood out most in this loss, as in Chennai before it, was not just India’s inability to chase a modest total, but the absence of application, character, and adaptation among the top order. It is now a recurring pattern: Gambhir’s diminishing returns, Sehwag’s stubborn decline, Kohli’s momentary lapses in pressure situations, and Yuvraj’s tentativeness against pace. The new generation of Indian batting, once expected to dominate the post-Tendulkar era, now resembles a house of cards waiting to collapse in every second innings.

That Pakistan should be the side to deliver such a blow is fitting. They are, aside from Australia, the only team to have repeatedly broken Indian hearts on home soil in the past decade. Their record at Eden is now a pristine 4-0 in ODIs — a stadium where they seem to summon their most clinical selves.

And Yet, Only Dhoni Remains

As the dust settles on another defeat, one figure continues to stand unbowed — Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He now carries the team not just on the field, but symbolically, emotionally, and structurally. With the bat, he alone seems willing to suffer, to fight. In the field, he thinks several steps ahead, adjusting fields when bowlers look lost. But even titans can only do so much when the battalion crumbles before the battle truly begins.

India’s fall is no longer a phase. It is a trendline, steep and unrelenting. The 2011 World Cup glow has long faded. The team that once hunted targets with arrogance and flair now dies a death of repeated familiarities — exposed techniques, brittle temperaments, and an overreliance on one man who knows the collapse is coming but still marches into it, bat in hand.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar