Record-Breaking Stats From New Zealand’s Historic Whitewash of India

New Zealand sent show waves around the cricketing world after sweeping India 3-0 at home in their Test match series, setting several records along the way.

Here are some salient statistics from the recently concluded series.

Stats from New Zealand’s Sweep of India:

1. India has suffered its first-ever whitewash in a home Test series of three or more matches. Previously, India faced home series sweeps only twice—2-0 against South Africa in 2000 and 1-0 against England in 1980. This series also marks the first time India has dropped three Tests in a home series since 1983, having last recorded three losses in a single series five times from 1958 to 1980.
2. New Zealand won three matches in a Test series for the first time.
3. India’s stronghold while chasing 200 or fewer runs at home took a hit with the defeat in Mumbai, previously holding a 31-1 record in such pursuits. The only comparable setback was against Pakistan in 1987, when India failed to chase 221 in Bengaluru. This chase also marked the second-lowest target India has failed to reach at home—the lowest being 120 against West Indies in 1997 in Bridgetown. For New Zealand, the successful defense of 175 stands as their second-lowest defended target, with 137 against England in Wellington in 1978 still the record.
4. 2024 now ties 1969 for the most home Test losses in a calendar year for India with four defeats. Rohit Sharma, under whose captaincy India has seen five home losses, is now second only to MAK Pataudi, who had nine losses including four in 1969.
5. Ajaz Patel set a new record for the most wickets by any bowler against India at a single venue, claiming 25 wickets at Wankhede Stadium, surpassing Ian Botham’s 22.
6. In a unique display of left-arm spin, Patel and Ravindra Jadeja achieved the first-ever instance of four five-wicket hauls by left-arm bowlers in a single Test. The only prior occurrence of two left-arm bowlers taking ten wickets each in the same Test dates back to 1980, with Iqbal Qasim and Ray Bright in Karachi.
7. India’s batting woes were evident as they lost their fifth wicket at 7.1 overs—the earliest in a Test innings in India since 1998.
8. Rohit Sharma’s average of 13.3 across ten home Test innings this season ranks as the second-lowest for a captain in a home season (minimum of eight innings in the top seven), surpassed only by Nasser Hussain’s 10.22 in 2000.

India will be hoping to put his unprecedented sweep at home by New Zealand behind them as they look to conquer their neighbors in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy next up.