In a remarkable turn of events, New Zealand has become only the sixth visiting team to clinch a Test series victory against India on Indian soil, marking a significant achievement in their cricketing chronicles. This historic feat unfolded during their 13th tour to the subcontinent, a region where victories have been elusive in the longest format of the game. Prior to this victory, New Zealand had managed to win only two Tests in India, the last of which was more than three decades ago in November 1988.
India’s home ground has traditionally been a fortress, but this defeat disrupts a formidable streak of 18 consecutive bilateral series wins at home. The last time India succumbed to such a fate was in the 2012/13 season, when England edged out a 2-1 victory in a four-Test series. India’s historical streak is unparalleled, leaving Australia’s two separate periods of ten consecutive wins trailing at a distant second. This series also echoes the distant memory of the 1999/00 season, the last instance when India lost the first two Tests of a home series, and that too was against South Africa.
This defeat is further accentuated by the fact that it constitutes only the third instance where India has lost three or more Tests at home in a single calendar year. The previous occurrences were in 1969, against formidable opponents like Australia and New Zealand, and in 1983, against the West Indies. Aside from the comprehensive 0-2 defeat to New Zealand, India had also fallen to England earlier in the year in Hyderabad.
For Indian captain Rohit Sharma, this series marks a challenging moment in his leadership at home. With four defeats in 15 Tests on home turf as captain, he now ties with Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin for the second-highest number of home defeats for an Indian captain, only surpassed by MAK Pataudi’s nine.
New Zealand’s success was spearheaded by the impressive performance of Mitchell Santner.
. His match figures of 13/157, taking 7/53 in the first innings and 6/104 in the second, stand as the third-best figures for a New Zealand bowler in Test history, following in the footsteps of legends like Richard Hadlee and Ajaz Patel. Santner’s feat also sees him become the third bowler to claim 13 or more wickets against India in a Test, joining the ranks of Ajaz Patel and Ian Botham in this exclusive club.
Adding another feather to his cap, Santner became only the second New Zealand spinner to capture five-fers in both innings of a Test, replicating the achievements of Daniel Vettori who managed the feat twice in his illustrious career.
The series was also a significant showcase of spinner dominance, with a total of 37 wickets taken by spinners in this Test. This output is the joint-most in a Test match hosted in India, tying with a previous encounter between the same two teams in Nagpur back in 1969, which incidentally was New Zealand’s first-ever Test victory on Indian soil. Only two other Test matches have seen spinners claim more wickets: the Sri Lanka-England match in Pallekele in 2018, and the Bangladesh-Afghanistan match in Chattogram in 2019, both producing 38 wickets.
Furthermore, the match witnessed an exceptional performance by Washington Sundar whose figures of 11/115 rank as the second-best for an Indian player in a match that ended in defeat. Javagal Srinath’s 13/132 against Pakistan during the Asian Test Championship in 1999 at the Eden Gardens remains the top performance under such circumstances.
Meanwhile, young Indian batter Yashasvi Jaiswal continues his stellar form. Jaiswal amassed 1,056 runs in a calendar year on Indian soil, surpassing the long-held record of 1,047 runs by Gundappa Viswanath in 1979. With this achievement, Jaiswal joins an elite group of only six batters overall, and is the third Indian to aggregate over 1,000 runs in a calendar year at home, following the legendary Gundappa Viswanath and Sunil Gavaskar.
This New Zealand triumph over India in the Test format on their home soil is not just a victory in numbers, but a memorable chapter in New Zealand cricket history, demonstrating their resilience and growth in the sport on international grounds known for their challenging conditions.