It was less than a month ago that New Zealand’s tour of India was seen by many as ‘easy 36 WTC points’ for the hosts before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to what had unfolded in Sri Lanka. New Zealand were obliterated in consecutive Tests by Sri Lanka, with the second of the two defeats being a generational humiliation.
With that defeat coinciding with India’s unbelievable victory over Bangladesh in Kanpur, where they won a literal race against time, everyone understandably feared the worst for the Kiwis who, mind you, before this series, had not won a single series away from home since WTC’s inception.
A month on, here we are. The unthinkable has happened, with New Zealand, of all teams, becoming the first side in TWELVE YEARS to win a Test series in India.
Yes, a New Zealand side which entered fortress India having suffered two consecutive whitewashes, one of which was at home, has just managed to do what no other team — even an Australian team which inherited peak Steve Smith and peak Nathan Lyon — has been able to achieve in the last 4,000 odd days.
READ: India’s fortress wasn’t breached in one day, it was years in making
And they’ve done it without one of their best batters in Kane Williamson.
Putting everything into context, this is a̶r̶g̶u̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ most definitely the biggest upset in modern cricket history.
So, how did the Blackcaps pull off the unthinkable?
The toss that didn’t go Tom Latham’s way but did
At the toss in Bengaluru, Tom Latham admitted that he would have batted first had he called it right. Latham and every New Zealand fan must be thanking their stars that the toss ended up not going his way.
Because on a spicy Chinnaswamy deck that had been under covers for over a day, Rohit Sharma opted to bat first. That too on an extremely gloomy day.
The ‘bold’ decision ended up proving to be a wretched one as the call ended up playing right into the hands of New Zealand, who had three world-class quicks tailor-made for the conditions on offer.
Tim Southee, Matt Henry and young Will O’Rourke did not put a foot wrong, and a combination of that, the conditions and some ordinary batting from India proved to be the perfect storm as the hosts got rolled over for 46.
You need a massive head start to even dream of beating India in India. On the very first day of the series, New Zealand got just that, and that was because Latham called it wrong at the toss.
Rachin Ravindra kills the boy and becomes a man
Requirement #2 to beat India in India: you need at least one of your batters to have a worldie of a series. Who turned out to be that person for New Zealand? None other than Rachin Ravindra.
Rachin entered this series having shown plenty of promise in Tests, but the real litmus test for him was always going to be India away against Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja & Co.
Expectations were high but inside three innings, Ravindra made every single person go, “Hold up. We knew you were good, but you are THIS GOOD already? AT 24???.”
It’s one thing gaining an early advantage in India, but the head start counts for nothing if you cannot consolidate the advantage. But in the first innings in Bengaluru, Ravindra played one of the knocks of the year to almost single-handedly bat India out of the Test.
He then followed it up with an ice-cold 39* in the fourth innings on Day 5, where the general expectation was that New Zealand would ‘collapse’ if they started feeling pressure. As it turned out, they never felt the pressure. The Kiwis ended up winning by eight wickets.
You can, of course, always win the odd Test in India on the back of one great knock (Root 2021 in Chennai, anyone?) but the only way you’ll win the series is if you get your best batter to play a bunch of world-class knocks.
On Day 1 in Pune, Ravindra picked up from where he left in Bengaluru and posted a flawless 65 which, in hindsight, proved to be one of the defining knocks of the second Test.
Headstart? Check. Worldie of a series for a batter? Check.
India press the panic button; it ends up playing into New Zealand’s hands
Hours after India’s loss in Bengaluru, reports started floating that India were going to unleash a ‘slow turner’ in the second Test in Pune.
The thinking basically was: that New Zealand weren’t ‘skilled enough’ to overpower India on a turner, that too a slow turner, which is tailor-made for the strengths of both the Indian batters and Indian bowlers.
Latham said ahead of the game that a turning wicket will play into the Blackcaps’ hands but he was mocked and cooked on X and Instagram for his comments.
Turns out, Latham wasn’t joking after all.
India unleashed the turner, but New Zealand ended up winning a massive, massive toss. The toss meant that the Kiwis got to enjoy the best batting conditions of the Test and they did a reasonable job, getting to 197/3 before folding in slightly disappointing fashion.
India, after Day 1, thought they had done a ‘decent’ job of restricting New Zealand to 259, but they had no idea what was about to hit them on Day 2.
The pitch got at least about 25% worse than it was on the first day, and that factor coupled with some truly atrocious batting from the hosts meant that New Zealand ended up taking a 103-run first innings lead on a surface that was only going to get worse to bat on.
Rohit Sharma’s ultra-defensive captaincy
After aiding the Blackcaps on the first day of the series by opting to bat, Rohit Sharma once again did the Kiwis a huge favour through his field set-up in the third innings of the second Test.
New Zealand had a 103-run lead which was significant, true, but 0-1 down in the series already, India needed to look to roll over the Blackcaps cheaply to get back into the game and the series.
And mind you, with the pitch proving to be mercurial, there was every reason for the hosts to believe they had it in them to roll New Zealand over for under 150.
But unfathomably enough, India were looking to ‘contain’ in the third innings from ball one. Washington Sundar and Ashwin opened the bowling in the third innings and they had spread-out fields almost from the get go.
This meant that New Zealand had easy singles and doubles available all across the ground.
In the third innings alone, the visitors collected a whopping 92 singles and 22 doubles. For context, New Zealand only took 93 singles and 18 doubles in their first innings in Bengaluru, where they amassed nearly 150 runs more than what they did in their second innings in Pune.
Rohit simply did not make the Blackcaps take enough risks. And thanks to that, the visitors were able to stretch their lead over 350 without having to bat out of their skin.
Off-colour Ashwin endures his second-worst home series of all time
Again, if you are to beat India in India, you need EVERYTHING to go your way. Not just conditions and toss but you also need other things to click. What other things? Maybe like India’s biggest threat with the ball searching for his rhythm..
Indeed, across the first two Tests, Ashwin bowled 67 overs and managed to take just six wickets.
The veteran off-spinner was first hammered brutally in Bengaluru. He bowled 16 overs in the first innings in Bengaluru and got taken apart, conceding 94 runs while taking a solitary wicket. Such was the pasting Ashwin received that Rohit did not even bring him on to bowl on the fifth day until after the game was already done and dusted.
Ashwin’s match figures of 1/100 in Bengaluru was in fact his second-worst in a home Test ever.
The 38-year-old looked like he was on a path to redemption after taking the first three Kiwi wickets in the Pune Test but, once again, looked like a shadow of his usual self in the second innings when the series was on the line.
Having conceded a 103-run lead, Rohit threw the new ball to Ashwin in the hope that the veteran would spin a web around the Kiwi batters in helpful conditions. But he conceded 18 off his first two overs and proved to be the most disappointing bowler for India in the second innings, going at close to four an over.
Certain stats do a good job of painting a perfect picture. Like the one you are going to see next.
Worst average for Ravichandran Ashwin in a home series (min 2 Tests)
52.64 – IND vs ENG in 2012 (series lost)
43.50 – IND vs NZ in 2024 (series lost)
Mitchell Santner turns into a bowling god in human clothing
Sometimes as a writer, you have to put your hands up and admit when you take an ‘L’.
We published an article a week back which highlighted Mitch Santner’s horrendous numbers in Tests, particularly in Asia. We (I) made a claim in that article that New Zealand might be better off without Santner.
It is, by some distance, the biggest ‘L’ of my career so far because Santner ended up producing arguably the greatest performance by an overseas bowler in India this century.
It will take some time for this Santner performance to even make sense, let alone sink in. Across his previous six Tests in Asia, Santner had taken 12 wickets. Nothing suggested that he’d be able to do significant damage, even on a rank turner. Well, he ended up taking 13 IN THE PUNE TEST ALONE!
It was one of those flawless performances where everything an individual touches turns into gold.
But make no mistake, Santner made it happen by utilising the surface, his height and by varying his speeds. He read the pitch immaculately and did exactly what needed to be done in order to trouble the batters. Sundar did that too, but neither Ashwin nor Jadeja were able to do that.
In hindsight, it was perhaps fitting that it was Santner who bowled New Zealand to the win that helped them breach the fortress. Before the series, as per form, New Zealand were the least likely of the ‘top sides’ to win away in India. And within New Zealand, on form, Santner was the individual least expected to bowl the side to victory.
Here we are now. 2-0 New Zealand. 13 wickets for Santner.
A very important reminder to everyone that, sometimes, sport is beyond numbers and analysis. And that is precisely the one thing which makes it worth following this form of entertainment that’s absolutely pure and beautiful.
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