India suffered a landmark Test series defeat to New Zealand, their first in 12 years at home, after losing the second Test by 113 runs in Pune on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma’s side consequently became the first Indian Test side since MS Dhoni’s unit lost to England in the 2012-13 season. The loss also marked New Zealand’s first series win in India and only their fourth win across 38 Tests in India.
New Zealand had ended a 26-year wait for a Test win in India last week in Bengaluru, winning the series opener by eight wickets. Their previous two wins before this serious had come in 1959 and 1988 respectively. Despite winning the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, the current series triumph was New Zealand’s first away series win in the WTC era.
India’s great home run ends
New Zealand are only the third team to record a Test series win in India this century. They are also only the third team to beat India at home since 2012, joining England and Australia. While England recorded two wins in 2012 and one apiece in 2021 and earlier this year, Australia had managed two wins between 2017 and 2023.
Before England’s landmark series win in 2012, India had had a nine-year unbeaten run at home since Australia’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in 2004, with 10 series victories and four draws.
India’s dominance since 2013 where they won 18 consecutive series is the best streak by a team at home in Test history. India had went past Australia’s 10-series home run between 1994-2001 when they beat Bangladesh 2-0 in late 2019.
India’s home series results from February 2013 to October 2024:
4-0 win vs Australia – BGT 2012/13
2-0 win vs West Indies – 2013/14
3-0 win vs South Africa – 2015/16
3-0 win vs New Zealand – 2016/17
4-0 win vs England – 2016/17
1-0 win vs Bangladesh – 2016/17
2-1 win vs Australia – BGT 2016/17
1-0 win vs Sri Lanka – 2017/18
1-0 win vs Afghanistan – 2018
2-0 win vs West Indies – 2018/19
3-0 win vs South Africa – 2019/20
2-0 win vs Bangladesh – 2019/20
3-1 win vs England – 2020/21
1-0 win vs New Zealand – 2021/22
2-0 win vs Sri Lanka – 2021/22
2-1 win vs Australia – BGT 2022/23
3-1 win vs England – 2023-24
2-0 win vs Bangladesh – 2024-25
0-2 LOSS vs New Zealand – 2024-25