India, who suffered their first home Test series defeat in Pune last week in 12 years and lost to New Zealand in the first two games of the three-Test series, are looking to avoid an embarrassing 24-year low for now against Tom Latham’s men in the third and final match of the competition at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, starting on November 1. In preparation for the game, the management reportedly pulled a desperate act on Wednesday.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the team management comprising captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir requested the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to call up 35 net bowlers during India’s training session at the Wankhede Stadium. It was India’s first full-fledged training session since the series defeat in Pune, which was followed by a two-day break.

India’s desire for additional net bowlers, with an emphasis on spinners, was due to the fact that they had problems with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in the second Test last week. The New Zealand bowler had picked 13 wickets for 157 runs, a five-wicket haul in both innings, recording the third-best figures by a visiting bowler in India.

Furthermore, in another desperate attempt to avoid defeat at home, India, in search of a consolation win and to keep their hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship alive, demanded a change of rank in Mumbai.

India wants to avoid a 24-year first

New Zealand became the first team in 12 years to end India’s historic home dominance in Test cricket, which dates back to 2013 and included 18 consecutive series wins. They previously beat India by eight wickets in the rain-hit series opener in Bengaluru. Santner helped them register a 113-run win in the second Test in Pune.

While New Zealand are now on the verge of a third win against India and a second clean sweep against a team on Asian soil after beating Bangladesh 2-0 in 2004, Rohit and his men are on the verge of their first win since India’s Losing 2-0 to South Africa at home in 2000, which remains their only defeat on home soil to date.