Team India's home dominance was broken by New Zealand after beating them in the second test at Pune by 113 runs. Former Team India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar tried to find the positive out of the series-defeat with a game to spare. Taking to twitter he wrote, "Also a team that won 18 consecutive home series losing one should not make India a poor team. Score is 18-1. And that’s pretty awesome!".
India lost to New Zealand for the first time in red-ball cricket. This was also the first time in 12 years that India lost a test series at home, since that infamous series-defeat to England in 2012.
What's next for Team India?
For New Zealand, it was a historic win. They’ve been touring India since 1955, but it’s taken almost 70 years for the Kiwis to finally conquer the Indian fortress. This was also only India’s fourth Test series defeat at home in this century.
India are on the brink of a whitewash, should they bow down to the Kiwis once more in Wankhede in the third and final Test. Rohit Sharma & Co. have been off-colour in the NZ series, ahead of their tour to Australia for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
India has six Tests remaining before the WTC final. To secure their spot, they’ll need to win at least four of these matches to maintain a strong standing. However, out of these six matches, five will be on Australia’s home soil, making the challenge even tougher.
This upcoming series against Australia will be critical. If India can win at least three of the four Test matches in Australia, their WTC percentage will likely see a significant boost. Any drawn matches in this series would also be beneficial, as it would lower the number of games Australia wins, giving India an advantage in the win-loss ratio.
