New Zealand’s Historic Test Series Whitewash Against India
In a remarkable achievement, New Zealand’s cricket team, led by captain Tom Latham and head coach Gary Stead, secured a historic whitewash against India in a three-match Test series held in India. Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor expressed his admiration for the team’s performance, noting that the victory has not fully sunk in for the players and fans back home.
Key Moments in the Series
Ajaz Patel’s six-wicket haul was instrumental in New Zealand’s victory in the third Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Despite a valiant half-century by India’s Rishabh Pant, India fell short by 25 runs, marking their first-ever series whitewash at home in a Test series of three matches or more.
Throughout the series, India faced several batting collapses. In the first Test at Bengaluru, India was bowled out for just 46 runs in their first innings. The second Test saw India all out for 156 runs in their first innings, and they failed to chase 359 runs, ending at 245. The final Test in Mumbai presented India with a target of 147 runs, but they were all out for 121.
Impact on New Zealand Cricket
Ross Taylor highlighted the significance of this victory for New Zealand cricket, which competes for attention in a country dominated by rugby and growing interest in football. He compared the joy of this win to New Zealand’s maiden ICC World Test Championship victory in 2021.
Upcoming Border-Gavaskar Series
Following this series, India is set to face Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting on November 22 in Perth. The series will include a day-night Test in Adelaide and conclude with the fifth Test in Sydney from January 3 to 7.
India’s Squad for the Series
The Indian squad includes Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), and other key players like Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Doubts Revealed
Test Series -: A Test series is a set of cricket matches played between two teams. Each match can last up to five days, and the team that wins the most matches wins the series.
Whitewash -: In sports, a whitewash means one team wins all the matches in a series, leaving the other team with no wins.
Ross Taylor -: Ross Taylor is a former New Zealand cricketer known for his excellent batting skills. He played for the New Zealand national team for many years.
Rugby-dominated nation -: New Zealand is famous for its rugby team, the All Blacks, which is very successful. This means rugby is more popular than cricket in New Zealand.
Ajaz Patel -: Ajaz Patel is a cricketer from New Zealand who is known for his bowling. He took six wickets in one of the matches against India, which is a great achievement.
Batting collapses -: A batting collapse happens when a cricket team loses many wickets quickly, making it hard to score runs.
ICC World Test Championship -: The ICC World Test Championship is a tournament for the best Test cricket teams in the world. New Zealand won it in 2021, which was a big achievement.
Border-Gavaskar series -: The Border-Gavaskar series is a set of Test cricket matches played between India and Australia. It is named after famous cricketers Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar.
Rohit Sharma -: Rohit Sharma is an Indian cricketer and the captain of the Indian cricket team. He is known for his powerful batting.