The Weekly Wicket: India’s SA Test Whitewash to Rohit-Kohli Show in Ranchi – This Week in Cricket

The final week of November witnessed a rollercoaster of cricketing action, from India’s humbling Test series whitewash against South Africa and SA coach Shukri Conrad’s controversial remark on Team India, to the T20 World Cup 2026 schedule, the first-ever Mega WPL Auction, Ayush Mhatre’s record-breaking outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s brilliant comeback in the first ODI against South Africa. 

As November comes to an end, let’s take a look at the top cricket highlights of the week that grabbed the headlines

Team India suffered yet another humiliating Test series whitewash at the hands of South Africa. After losing the Kolkata Test by 30 runs, the first defeat to the Proteas at home in 15 years, India were dealt an even heavier blow as they lost by a massive 408 runs in the Guwahati Test, their biggest red-ball defeat at home, resulting in a 0–2 series sweep. The Test series defeat was attributed to a batting collapse, struggling to contain South Africa batters, team selection, and experimentation.

This was the second consecutive Test series sweep for India at home, after having been defeated by New Zealand in October last year. In the last three series played at home, two were whitewashed by the opponents, raising serious concerns about India’s declining dominance in home conditions. In the 12 months, India lost three Test series, won one, and drew another, reflecting one of their poorest runs in Test cricket in recent years.

Australia, led by Steve Smith, kick-started their quest to defend the urn with an eight-wicket win over England in the Ashes 2025 series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Australia’s bowlers dominated England’s batting as the pace attack led by Mitchell Starc bundled out the visitors twice across two days, setting the tone for a strong start to their Ashes campaign.

In a 205-run target set by England, Australia chased it down in 28.2 overs, thanks to Travis Head’s blistering knock of 123 off 83 balls and his 117-run stand for the second wicket with Marnus Labuschagne, who remained unbeaten on 51 off 49 balls. With a dominant victory, Australia extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches against England on home soil since the 2013/14 Ashes series, reinforcing their status as a formidable force in home Ashes contests.

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad sparked a controversy when he used the term ‘grovel’ to describe the intensity with which the team approached the Test series against India. The term has a racial stigma attached to it, and it came to prominence when former England captain Tony Greig used the word ‘grovel’ against the West Indies, only to backfire after the Clive Lloyd-led side crushed England 3-0 in the 1976 Test series.

Given the racial undertones of the term ‘grovel’, Shukri Conrad was heavily criticized by former Indian cricketers, Anil Kumble, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parthiv Patel, and Akash Chopra, who called it ‘disrespectful’. Former South African pacer Dale Steyn expressed his disappointment over Conrad using a term that carries a stigma.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the fixtures and schedule for the T20 World Cup 2026. The marquee event will take place from February 7 to March 8 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. 20 teams will participate in the tournament, and five teams have been divided into 4 Groups.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 8 stage, and from there, the eight teams will compete in a round-robin format, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals, leading up to the final match to crown the T20 World Cup 2026 champions. India were clubbed in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, the USA, and Namibia. The tournament opener will be between Pakistan and the Netherlands at the SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo.

Jemimah Rodrigues, who was part of India Women’s World Cup campaign, opted out of the remainder of the ongoing BBL season to be with her friend and India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, whose wedding was cancelled indefinitely after her father suffered a heart attack. Rodrigues was playing for the Brisbane Heat before returning to India to attend Mandhana’s wedding.

Rodrigues was supposed to rejoin the Brisbane Heat squad after the Indian batting star’s wedding to Palash Muchhal, but the marriage was postponed after her father was hospitalised. As an act of gesture, Jemimah Rodrigues decided to stay in India and support Smriti Mandhana through the difficult times of her life.

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) had a successful first-ever Mega Auction, where all five franchises – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Giants, Delhi Capitals, and UP Warriorz – went all out to rebuild their squads, bidding aggressively for top Indian and international stars ahead of the WPL 2026. The auction took place in New Delhi on Thursday, November 27.

A total of 277 players went under the hammer, out of which 67 were sold for a combined INR 40.8 crore, with Deepti Sharma being the most expensive pick after UP Warriorz bought it back for INR 3.2 crore through the Right to Match (RTM) option. The fourth edition of the WPL will start on February 9, with the defending champions Mumbai Indians, taking on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Navi Mumbai.

Mumbai young batter Ayush Mhatre grabbed the national headlines with his blistering performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Vidarbha at the Ekana Cricket Stadium Ground 1 in Lucknow. Mhatre played a brilliant knock of 110 off 53 balls, including 8 fours and as many maximums, at a strike rate of 207.55 to help Mumbai chase down a 193-run target in just 17.5 overs.

Ayush Mhatre recorded his maiden century in his T20 career. At the age of 18 and 135 days, Mhatre became the youngest player to score a century in all three formats of the game, namely List A, First-Class, and T20, breaking the previous record held by Rohit Sharma (19 years, 339 days).

Former RCB captain Faf du Plessis decided to opt out of the upcoming IPL 2026 Auction, which will take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi. The veteran South African batter was released by Delhi Capitals after he had an underwhelming IPL 2025, where he amassed just 202 runs, including two fifties, at an average of 22.44 and a strike rate of 123.93 in nine matches. In his official statement, du Plessis reflected on his 14-season journey in the IPL and highlighted how India shaped him as a cricketer and as a person.

Faf du Plessis further stated that he would like to take on a ‘new challenge’ in the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League. He has been one of the prolific overseas batters in the history of IPL, amassing 4773 runs, including 39 fifties, at an average of 35.09 in 154 matches.

Team India and Punjab opener Abhishek Sharma unleashed an absolute carnage in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 match against Bengal. Sharma notched up a century in just 32 balls and played a brilliant knock of 148 off 52 balls in Punjab’s 112-run win over Bengal at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. 

In his 148-run knock, Abhishek Sharma shattered several T20 records, including the joint-second fastest fifty by an Indian batter, the third-fastest century by an Indian, and smashing a staggering 16 sixes in the innings — one of the highest ever in a single T20 innings. Moreover, Abhishek Sharma recorded the second-most number of centuries byan Indian batter in T20 cricket, levelling with Rohit Sharma.

Indian batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made a comeback to the national side in the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi. The batting duo played their first international at home since October last year, marking their return to Indian soil after a gap of 10 months.

Rohit Sharma played a knock of 57 off 51 balls and shattered Shahid Afridi’s record for the most sixes in ODI cricket. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, lit up the Ranchi stadium with a phenomenal knock of 135 off 120 balls, recording his 52nd ODI century and 83rd in international cricket.