“They went into the series thinking that we’ll just whitewash the Kiwis”- Brett Lee feels India’s complacency cost them NZ home Test series

Former Australian gun fast bowler Brett Lee reckons India was complacent in the three-match Test series against New Zealand, which led to their downfall. India suffered a 0-3 whitewash for the first time while playing at home and this was New Zealand’s maiden Test series triumph on Indian soil.

India lost the opening Test by eight wickets at Bengaluru and then suffered a 113-run loss in the second Test at Pune. The home team lost the third and final Test by 25 runs after they could not chase down 147 runs in the second innings.

Before the Test series against India, New Zealand suffered a 0-2 series loss against Sri Lanka but they were able to turn a corner against Rohit Sharma’s team.

“Is it a T20 issue? Were the batsmen too attacking? Is it a skill issue? Is it a problem with them not taking the Kiwis too seriously? I think yes, on all formats. They went into the series thinking that we’ll just whitewash the Kiwis, thinking that’s going to be an easy series. And that’s no disrespect to the Kiwis. It’s just that India are so powerful, so strong on home soil,” Brett Lee said on his YouTube Channel.

Lee, who was known to clock more than 150 kmph during his heydays, added that the Indian team will be better prepared for the Australia series after the loss against New Zealand.

“This is a great learning curve for all out there. Probably not for Aussies because now they’ve got to understand that India will be much-better prepared. They are going to come in strong. They would have got a kick up the backside from their coach, Gautam Gambhir,” Lee said in the same interaction.

“This is atrocious, the way they played but they are still a team of champions. They have had a downfall over the last couple of weeks; it does happen in cricket. But this is the time to turn it into positives. The Kiwis caught India off-guard,” he added.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.