Nothing feels quite like home—it’s a place where you are most comfortable and familiar with every nook, crack and corner. Home is also a safe haven, a place where you can be yourself without being judged. Until last month, playing a game on home ground would count as an advantage for the Indian Cricket Team. Playing against the men in blue on their home turf meant going up against a fortress that has failed to be sieged by any team for over a decade. 

Perhaps the comfort of home morphed into complacency, and the team saw their chances of winning the tournament crumbling into pieces by Tom Lathan and his band of boys. The Indian Cricket Team played three Tests. They lost all three and had never suffered a humiliation of this extent. The scars will be there when they embark on a tour Down Under soon. The only way to shake off this embarrassing loss is by retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. But, at this point, the likelihood of them doing so is at its lowest.

The 3-0 defeat to New Zealand has also jeopardised their chances of making it to their third consecutive final of the World Test Championship. Here’s how Team India can save face and qualify: 

How Can India Qualify for the World Test Championship Final?

After getting clean swept in Mumbai, India dropped to second position in the points table, with their win percentage standing at just a shade over 58 in 14 matches. Australia, who will be hosting India later this month, are now on top, having won 62% of their games in this cycle. The path to the final for India would have been pretty straightforward had they won the series against New Zealand. But now they will have to rely on others. Only winning 4-0 in Australia would earn them a direct qualification, and this is something no one can envision based on their current form.

Sri Lanka is placed third in the points table, and they would be facing Australia and South Africa next year. India's best bet would be to hope Sri Lanka lose both the series.