With their crushing 3-0 whitewash of South Africa in the Freedom Trophy, India recorded their 11th consecutive series win at home, setting a new world record. The previous best was 10, twice achieved by Australia. India last lost a Test series at home in 2012-13, when the visiting England team inflicted a 1-2 defeat.
India started their home dominance in the series that followed right after, steamrolling Australia 4-0. In fact, since February 2013, India have won 25 of their 31 Tests at home, drawing five, and losing just one, the infamous Pune Test against Australia in 2017.
Here we take a look at some of the other dominant wins by India over the course of the past six years:
India 4-0 Australia | 2013
This series win was special because this came right after the embarrassing 1-2 defeat to England. Australia had come down to India for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and left with their tails between their legs.
In the first Test at Chennai, Australia batted first and scored a respectable 380. India responded with 572, with then skipper, MS Dhoni scoring a maiden double-century. Australia batted decently in their second innings, scoring 241 but India chased down the required 50 runs in just 11.3 overs.
The second Test saw the visitors get a massive drubbing. Australia batted first again, and strangely declared on 237-9. Pujara and Vijay scored 204 and 167 respectively to take India to 503. That total proved more than enough as Ashwin picked up a five-wicket haul to bundle out the Aussies for just 131, as they lost by an innings and 135 runs in just four days.
The third Test saw a better contest with Australia putting 408, batting first at Mohali. However, they were not prepared for the assault from a certain debutant who went by the name of Shikhar Dhawan. The Delhi lad smashed his way to 187 off 174 balls and Vijay helped himself to 153 to take India to 499. Australia put up 223 in their second essay, but it was not enough as India romped to a six-wicket win.
With the series already lost, the Aussies did not have the incentive to play for much and it showed. They batted first for the fourth time in the series, and were bowled out for 262, with Ashwin helping himself to a five-wicket haul yet again. India did not do much better, taking only a 10-run lead. In the second innings, Jadeja ran through the Aussies with a five-wicket haul to dismiss them for 164, and India knocked off the 155 runs in 31 overs.
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India 3-0 New Zealand, 2016
New Zealand had a decent Test team though they may not have been best equipped to succeed in sub-continent conditions. And they found that out the hard way in their tour to India in 2016.
The first Test at Kanpur, India scored 318 batting first, and then Ashwin and Jadeja helped themselves to four and five-wicket hauls to get New Zealand out for 262. A collective batting effort from the Indians saw them rack up 377/5 before they opted to declare. This time, Ashwin did all the damage by himself, picking up 6-132 and bowling the Kiwis out for 236 to hand India a 197-run win.
The scene shifted to the Eden Gardens in Kolkata just four days later but the change of venue did nothing for New Zealand’s fortunes. India batted first again, and put up 316. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the one to wreak havoc this time round as he picked five wickets to give India a 112-run lead. The hosts put up only 263 but the bowlers shared the wickets to beat the Kiwis by 178 runs and give India the series win.
India saved the most humiliating defeat for the last Test at Indore. Batting first, captain, Virat Kohli and vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane helped themselves to 211 and 188, respectively as India declared on 557/5. New Zealand could only muster up 299 in response with Ashwin snaring six wickets. India though, did not enforce the follow-on, and raced to 216/3, setting the Kiwis an improbable 475 to win. Needless to say, the Kiwis folded for 153, with Ashwin going one further, picking up seven of the wickets to fall.
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India 4-0 England, 2016-17
England’s last tour to India had been a grand success but a lot had changed since then. Many of their senior players had retired, and they had major opening woes. Add to that, India’s momentum in the past year, and you had a recipe for disaster for the visitors. And it mostly played according to script.
The first Test at Rajkot was played on a batting beauty. England started with a bang, scoring 537 batting first. India conceded an unexpected 49-run lead as they folded for 488. England made 260/3, setting India a target of 310, but did not have enough time to go for the win, as India ended with 172/6, resulting in a draw.
With a much-needed wake-up call in the first Test, India came with renewed vigour at Visakhapatnam for the second Test. They put 455 batting first, with Kohli and Pujara scoring hundreds. Ashwin stepped up for the umpteenth time as he picked five wickets to give India a 200-run lead. The hosts then doubled it in their second essay, giving England 405 to chase. England though, could not last on fourth and fifth day Indian pitches, folding for just 158 to give India a 1-0 lead.
The teams met again at Mohali for the third Test and England seemed deflated with the loss in the previous Test. The visitors put up 283 batting first. India responded with 417 as four batsmen scored half-centuries. England could not do much in the second innings as they were bowled out for 236, and India easily knocked off the 103-run target in 20 overs.
In the decisive fourth Test at Mumbai, India put up their best batting performance of the series so far. England scored a respectable 400 batting first but India were in no mood to relent. Virat Kohli scored a second double-hundred in as many months, and Murali Vijay and Jayant Yadav scored centuries to take India to 631. England seemed rattled by that effort as Ashwin ran through them and they folded for 195, handing India an innings and 36-run victory, and with that, the series.
With the series already lost, England went all out in the fifth Test, scoring a massive 477 batting first at Chennai. But India had more than enough arsenal to counter them, as KL Rahul scored 199 and Karun Nair very famously became only the second Indian batsman to score a triple century before India declared at 759/7. England, reeling from the sting, could only manage 207 as Jadeja picked up a seven-wicket haul to surrender meekly by an innings and 75 runs.
Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Punit Paranjpe
