Team India, led by Rohit Sharma, lost to New Zealand by 113 runs in the Pune Test match. In this match, India was targeting a 359-run victory but ended up scoring only 245 runs. With this defeat, India lost all three Test matches against New Zealand. The third and final match of the Test series between the two teams will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from November 1.
Kabu spin becomes trouble for Team India
New Zealand won a Test series on Indian soil for the first time, so the victory was quite historic for it. Mitchell Santner was the biggest contributor to New Zealand’s victory in the Pune Test match. Left-arm spinner Santner took seven wickets in the first innings and six in the second. Overall, Santner took 13 wickets and scored 157 runs in the match. India’s biggest batsman failed in front of Santner. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin were dismissed by Santner in both innings.
This is not the stadium, this is Mickey 🤷🏻♂️#INDvNZ #IDFCFirstBankTestTrophy #IndiaTeam #santner #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/3KUKUszQfM
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) October 26, 2024
Surprisingly, in the 28 Test matches that Mitchell Santner played before, not once did he manage to take five wickets in an innings. But on the turning tracks of Pune, the Kabu spinner gave India sleepless nights. This is not the first time that a left-arm spinner has beaten India in a Test match at the Pune venue.
When India played Australia at this stadium in February 2017, Steve O’Keefe wreaked havoc on the host team. Left-arm spinner Steve then took 6 wickets in the first innings and 6 wickets in the second innings as well. He took 12 wickets in the match and scored a total of 70 runs. Thanks to Steve’s outstanding performance, the Australian team successfully won this match by a margin of 333 runs. That game also ended on the third day. The Indian team then scored 105 runs in the first innings and 107 runs in the second innings.
India have won only one Test match in Pune.
Let us tell you that the Indian team has played 3 Test matches so far at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune but has won only 1 of them. India’s only Test win at this venue was against South Africa in October 2019. India won that match by an innings and 137 runs. In that match, Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 254 runs as captain and was adjudged the Man of the Match. However, Kohli failed on the field this time and could only score 18 runs in total.
Let us tell you that in the Pune Test match, New Zealand scored 259 runs in the first innings. In response, the Indian team could only score 156 runs in the first innings. New Zealand then scored 255 in the second innings and set a target of 359 for India. If you look at it this way, the Indian team lost the series at home for the first time in 12 years. Earlier, India lost 1-2 in the four-Test match against England in December 2012. Since then, India has lost a Test series at home for the first time.
India’s biggest ever defeat (Home Test)
Four times in 1969 (3 against Australia, 1 against New Zealand)
Three in 1983 (all three against West Indies)
3 games in 2024 (2 against New Zealand, 1 against England)
Visiting team wins Test series in India
England (five times, last in 2012-13)
West Indies (five times, last in 1983-84)
Australia (four times, the last in 2004-05)
Pakistan(1986–87)
South Africa (1999–00)
New Zealand (2024)
