In an unprecedented feat, the New Zealand cricket team has carved its name in the history books by becoming only the sixth team to clinch a bilateral Test series victory against India on Indian soil. This monumental achievement marks their 13th tour to the subcontinent, a region notoriously known for being a fortress for the Indian cricket team. Before this remarkable triumph, New Zealand had only managed to secure two Test wins in India, with their last win dating back to November 1988.
India’s loss in this series is particularly notable as it puts an end to their incredible streak of 18 consecutive home series wins. The size of this unbeaten run at home emphasizes just how daunting a task it is for visiting teams to succeed in India. This long-standing record had been unchallenged since the 2012-13 season when England managed a 2-1 victory in a four-Test series. To comprehend the magnitude of this streak, one only needs to compare it to Australia’s second-best record, where they had two ten-series winning streaks at home during the periods of 1994/95 to 2000/01 and 2004 to 2008/09.
Interestingly, India last faced a scenario where they lost the first two Tests of a home series against South Africa back in the 1999/00 season. The current defeat to New Zealand also marked only the third calendar year where India has lost three or more Test matches at home. The years 1969 and 1983 had seen similar results with losses against Australia, New Zealand, and the West Indies, respectively.
Rohit Sharma’s tenure as captain in home Tests has also taken a hit, with this defeat bringing his total losses to four in 15 matches, a figure that ties him for the second-most home losses by an Indian captain. The record for most home defeats is held by MAK Pataudi, with nine losses, while Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin both have four losses each from 20 Tests.
A significant contributor to New Zealand’s success was the remarkable performance of Mitchell Santner. The left-arm spin bowler delivered exceptional figures of 13/157, spread across two innings with spells of 7/53 and 6/104.
. These figures stand as the third-best match performance for a New Zealand bowler in history, just behind Richard Hadlee’s 15/123 against Australia at the Gabba in 1985 and Ajaz Patel’s 14/224 at the Wankhede Stadium three years ago.
Santner’s performance placed him among an elite class of bowlers who have taken 13 or more wickets against India in a Test match, joining the likes of Ajaz Patel and Ian Botham. Additionally, Santner became only the second New Zealand spinner to take five wickets in both innings of a Test, following in the steps of Daniel Vettori who achieved the feat twice, against Australia and Bangladesh.
The Test witnessed a significant dominance of spin bowling, with spinners claiming a total of 37 wickets, equalling the record for the most in a Test match played in India. This tied with a 1969 match between the same two countries in Nagpur, which marked New Zealand’s first-ever Test victory in India. Globally, only two other Test matches have seen more wickets taken by spinners, with 38 wickets falling in both a Sri Lanka vs. England match in Pallekele and a Bangladesh vs. Afghanistan match in Chattogram.
Another standout performance came from Washington Sundar of India, who took 11/115, marking the second-best match figures for an Indian bowler in a Test that ended in defeat. The record for best bowling figures in such a match is held by Javagal Srinath who took 13/132 against Pakistan in the Asian Test Championship game in 1999.
Amidst these bowling feats, Yashasvi Jaiswal emerged as a beacon of hope for Indian batting. Jaiswal scored an astounding 1056 runs in the calendar year, surpassing Gundappa Viswanath’s long-standing record of 1047 runs set in 1979. This achievement placed Jaiswal as only the sixth batter overall and the third Indian, alongside Viswanath and Sunil Gavaskar, to accumulate over 1000 runs in home Tests in a single year.
This series loss for India marks a significant moment in their cricketing history, while New Zealand’s victory is a testament to their tenacity and prowess, closing a chapter with a historic triumph on Indian soil.