It wasn't long until the lunch break was due in Guwahati on Day 5. But the game didn't get there. South Africa wrapped up their inevitable 2-0 series win before time, leaving Gautam Gambhir with an unflattering home tally of: Played: 9, Won: 4, Lost: 5.All five of these losses have come in the last 12 months, devaluing the extent of muscle-flexing India have done at home.

Gambhir however, came out strongly against the idea of bunching the two series defeats - New Zealand and South Africa - together. "Look, first of all, the series against New Zealand, we had a very different side," Gambhir said. "And this is a very different side. I'm sure when you see this batting line-up to when you see that batting line-up, the experience that that batting line-up and the experience that that team had to what this team has is chalk and cheese."

There is some merit to Gambhir's experience argument here. India's top-five that started in the New Zealand series last October had Rohit Sharma at the top, Virat Kohli at No.4 and KL Rahul in the middle. The top-five also involved Sarfaraz Khan, who hasn't played since the last Test of that series. Instead, India shifted Rahul back to the top, moved Shubman Gill to #4 and kept their plans open for one-drop. Sai Sudharsan eked out Karun Nair in the #3 audition, but more on potential than runs from England.

"Comparing everything to New Zealand is probably a wrong narrative. If you see 4 or 5 batters in this top 8 have literally played less than 15 Test matches and they will grow. They're learning on the job. They're learning on the field. Test cricket is never easy when you're playing against a top quality side."

"So you've got to give them time as well. So for me, I think that is something they'll keep learning. Hopefully, they keep learning. That is important. I hate using this word transition, but this is exactly what transition is. When you've got in Test cricket your batting line-up which has literally played less than 15 to 18 Test matches, they need time to absorb pressure. They need time to keep getting better against quality attacks and against quality sides."

But this is perhaps where the point runs astray. You could argue that the training wheels are still on for the likes of Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar at the highest level, but is the team management really helping their cause by shunting them around in the batting line-up constantly?

Shubman Gill's injury caused a forced change, but Washington alone has batted in six different positions in the last eight Test innings. India seemed to have cracked a tactical code by sending him in at No.3 in Kolkata, only to relegate him to No. 8 a week later in Guwahati. And India's transition problem has not just been restricted to batting. They lost two big names there, but arguably suffered more by Ravichandran Ashwin's departure in December 2024.

India have not had an off-spinner of quality or even potential breaking through to slowly fill the void. Neither has there been one with a truckload of bowling behind him in domestic cricket to get behind. As of Wednesday evening, Washington Sundar - India's current off-spinner, has played more Tests (17) than first-class matches (16) for Tamil Nadu. Even if you overlook the obvious stylistic mismatch between Ashwin and Washington, there's also an obvious lack of experience to India's spin direction.

"Look, that's why we are giving as many opportunities as we can to someone like Washi," Gambhir said, of India's bare off-spin stocks. "But if you expect Washi to deliver straight away what Ashwin did after playing more than 100 Test matches, it's unfair on that young kid. He is what? 10-12-15 Test matches old (16). He is learning his trade. He is learning to bowl in different conditions. He is learning to bowl in different situations as well. And obviously, it's tough when you lose so many experienced players at the same time."

India's trust in Washington to fill the big boots also stems from the existing team ideology. Losing Rohit and Kohli has perhaps pushed Gambhir to pack in as many all-rounders as he could with the hope of off-setting batting quality with quantity. That worked at the first step of transition on flat wickets in England where Washington wasn't a primary bowling source, and cushioned the team with some lower-order runs. He bowled 74.1 overs there - almost half of what Ravindra Jadeja sent down, and far fewer than all the pacers, who did most of the heavy lifting there.

In India, conditions change, plans flip and tables turn. He still offered a lot of batting in these two Tests, but playing in these conditions also meant being one of the main bowling protagonists. He bowled well in passages, but was comfortably outbowled by Simon Harmer - the South African of his ilk.

This is also where experience comes through. Harmer arrived in India as the first South African with 1000 first-class wickets. The years and legs put into getting there showed in the way he relentlessly went at the Indian top-order and finished the series with 17 wickets.

"That is why it is called transition. I don't think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spin bowling department and in the batting department as well. Normally when your batting is secure or your batting has experience, then your team goes through a bowling transition. But with this Test team, obviously the transition is happening in both the skill sets," Gambhir said.

Another advantage that Harmer enjoyed was getting a taste of Asian conditions with a trip to Pakistan in the lead-up. In the afterglow of the series win, Temba Bavuma spoke of leaving no stone unturned in their preparation for their India sojourn. By design, India lagged behind here too.

India were in Australia partaking in the T20I series until November 8 with the Eden Gardens Test starting less than a week later. Kuldeep Yadav had been sent back for A matches in Bengaluru but the trio of Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah didn't make an early return.

"Look, obviously scheduling does make a difference," Gambhir said. "Imagine three days before the start of the first Test match we were in Australia. And suddenly you come back from there and you have to join a Test team and you have got two days to plan with the test side. I am not going to give that excuse as well. Sometimes we can probably prioritise this better."

"We can have more gaps in the middle so that we can probably start working on certain skill sets. Because working for two days on a certain skill set, where we always knew that they had quality spinners, they had two really, really experienced spinners. So that would have always been a challenge for a Test side," he offered.

India may have faced a lot of variables at home, but South Africa still served a grim reminder of the new reality - that India are beatable at home. That shift has come under Gambhir as a big blot on his coaching profile, and raised questions of whether he remains fit for the purpose in his role.

"It is up to the BCCI to decide," Gambhir said of his future. "I said it during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach. Indian cricket is important, I'm not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing."

"And yes, people can keep forgetting about it. I'm the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team. And I'm sure you guys will forget very soon because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand. And I'm the same guy who won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup as well," he added.

Between now and India's next Test assignment in the second half of 2026, India could add another major white-ball trophy to their cabinet under Gambhir. But when time comes to play Tests again, the narrative will invariably circle back to the shortcomings at home, and the potential learnings since.