IND vs NZ 2nd Test: Thanks to Mitchell Santner‘s magical spin (13 wickets) and Tom Latham’s captaincy innings, New Zealand defeated India by 113 runs in the second Test played in Pune. With this, New Zealand won the three-match Test series 2-0. This is the first time that the Kiwi team has won a Test series in India.
You will be surprised to know that Team India has lost the Test series at home after 4332 days. Earlier in 2012, England had won the Test series on Indian soil. Dhoni was the captain of India then. Now after 12 years, once again Team India has lost the Test series at home. After winning 18 consecutive Test series, India has lost the Test series at home.
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New Zealand won the toss in this match and decided to bat first. The Kiwi team scored 259 runs in the first innings. After this, Team India could score only 156 runs in its first innings. In this way, the visiting team gained a huge lead of 103 runs. In the second innings, New Zealand scored 255 runs and set a target of 359 runs in front of India. In response, the host team could score only 245 runs. However, at one time India’s score was 96 runs for one wicket, but the middle order was completely on fire.
Mitchell Santner was the hero of this historic victory of New Zealand. Santner took a total of 13 wickets in this match. In the first innings, Santner sent seven Indian batsmen to the pavilion. In the second innings, he got 6 wickets.
Yashasvi Jaiswal played an innings of 77 runs in 65 balls for Team India chasing the target of 359 runs. 9 fours and 3 sixes came off his bat. Apart from this, Rohit Sharma 08, Shubman Gill 23, Virat Kohli 17, Rishabh Pant 00, Washington Sundar 21, Sarfaraz Khan 09 and Ravichandran Ashwin were out after scoring 18 runs. Ravindra Jadeja played an innings of 42 runs.
India last lost a Test series at home after 12 years
India last lost a Test series at home in the year 2012. Then England defeated India in a 4 match Test series. India won the first Test of the series by 9 wickets. After this, England won the Mumbai and Kolkata Tests and took a 2-1 lead in the series. In the last Test match of the series, India tried hard to win but this Test was a draw and England won the series.
New Zealand won the Test series in India for the first time in 70 years
This is India’s first defeat in 18 consecutive Test series. New Zealand has won the Test series in India for the first time in nearly 70 years. The New Zealand team has been touring here since 1955 but has not been able to break into India’s fort in all these years. Indian batsmen, who were once considered experts in playing spin bowling, could not face Mitchell Santner who took 13 wickets in the match.
Taste of victory after defeat
Kane Williamson was also not a part of the team in these two victories of New Zealand, the team had come back after losing in Sri Lanka. Southee had resigned from the captaincy but Tom Latham captained well. In the first match, the Kiwi fast bowlers took over the reins and in the second match Santner led. While in batting, captain Tom Latham also contributed along with Conway and Rachin Ravindra and New Zealand won one of the toughest series in Test cricket.
Third defeat at home this year
This is the first time since 1983 that India has lost three Tests at home in a calendar year. India lost four Tests at home in 1969, three against Australia and one against New Zealand. After this, the Indian team lost three Tests in 1983, all three against the West Indies. The Indian team has lost three Tests at home this year. Two of these have come against New Zealand in this series while one defeat came against England at the beginning of the year.
Rohit Sharma has a shameful record
This is Rohit Sharma’s fourth Test defeat as captain. India has played 15 Tests under Rohit’s leadership and has lost four. India has also lost the same number of Tests at home under the leadership of Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin (both in 20-20 Tests). MAK Pataudi is at the first place in the list of captains who have lost the most matches at home. India played 27 Tests under the leadership of MAK Pataudi and the team had to face defeat in 9 Tests. Rohit is jointly at the second place in this list.
Santner set a flurry of records
Mitchell Santner has taken 13 wickets for 157 runs in this match and this is the third best performance of any bowler against India in India. Apart from this, Mitchell Santner has the third best match figures for any New Zealand bowler. At the same time, these are the third best figures bowled by any bowler against India. This is the third best performance in a match by a visiting bowler in India.
England has defeated India at home the most number of times
Let us tell you, the last time England has defeated India in a Test series at its home is five times. The last time England won a Test series was in 2012-2013. While West Indies has also won a Test series in India five times. West Indies last won a Test series in 1983/84. At the same time, Australia is at third place in this list and it last defeated India at its home in 2004/05. Apart from this, Pakistan (1986/87), South Africa (1999/00) and New Zealand (2024/25) have been successful in winning Test series in India.
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Top 5 factors of India’s defeat to New Zealand: Flop show in the first innings of both the Tests
First factor- New Zealand came with good preparation
Before the India tour, New Zealand team has played a two test match series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. The Kiwi team had to face a 0-2 defeat there, but its players got good practice of playing in spin friendly conditions. This practice came in handy in the first two test matches against India.
Second factor- Indian team lagged behind in both pace and spin
Two test matches have been played in this series so far. For the first test, the Indian management had prepared a flat track. However, due to rain and overcast conditions, the conditions during the first test match in Bengaluru proved to be helpful for seam and swing bowling. Kiwi fast bowlers took full advantage there.
A rank turner pitch was prepared for the second test match. That means there was help for spinners from the first day of the Pune test. This time Kiwi spinners like Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel performed better than the Indian spinners.
Third factor- Batting flopped in the first innings in both the Tests
The flop show of the batsmen in the first innings in both the Test matches proved costly for India. In the first innings of the first Test, the Indian team was all out for 46 runs. Due to this, India fell so far behind in the match that despite scoring 462 runs in the second innings, it had to face defeat.
In the second test match too, the Indian team collapsed on a score of just 156 runs in its first innings. New Zealand scored above 250 runs in both its innings. Due to this, India got an almost impossible target of 359 runs to win the match in the last innings on a spin friendly track. Team India collapsed on 245 runs in the second innings.
Fourth factor – India had to pay the price for taking New Zealand lightly
The New Zealand team has been visiting India since 1955, but it had never managed to win a Test series here before. Due to this, the Indian management probably did not take New Zealand seriously. Just before this series, the Kiwi team had to face defeat in Sri Lanka. Most Indian fans and experts believed that winning the series against New Zealand would prove to be a cake-walk for India. The opposite happened.
Fifth factor- IPL retention and mega auction became a distraction
On one hand, the India-New Zealand Test series was being played, while on the other hand, news related to IPL mega auction and player retention was making headlines. Due to this, the focus of our players also got diverted.
A few days ago, Rishabh Pant was asking fans on social media whether he should go to the auction. At the same time, the team’s main off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was seen making a video debating on which IPL team will retain which player. Many players, including the team captain Rohit Sharma, have not yet decided whether they will stay with their old team in the IPL or go to the auction.
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