India Records their lowest total at home in Test cricket history

Two weeks after India’s historic victory over Bangladesh at the Kanpur test, Rohit Sharma and his men had to go through a disastrous outing against New Zealand.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat first completely backfired his plans as the Kiwis bowlers wrapped up the hosts innings to 46-10 in just 31.2 overs on Day 2. Shockingly, this is Team India’s lowest total at home ever in test cricket history.

The first out of the three-match test series against New Zealand started on October 16 with Day 1 being washed out due to severe rains at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The New Zealand medium pacer Matt Henry’s impressive performance in his 26th test match, helped him to record the fourth-best bowling figures for New Zealand in India and the third-fastest bowler to grab 100 wickets for his team in test cricket.

Let’s find out the list of unwanted records set by the Indian cricket team after registering Asia’s lowest total of 46-all out in test cricket in the ongoing test match against New Zealand.

How did India register their lowest total at home? IND vs NZ Day 2 Talking Points

A tremendous contribution from Matt Henry (5-15 in 13.2 overs), William ORourke (4-22 in 12 overs), and Tim Southee (1-8 in 6 overs) ended India’s innings to their lowest score in tests at home.

Apart from Rishabh Pant (20 runs from 49 balls– including 2 fours) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13 runs from 63 balls – including 1 four), the rest of the Indian batters departed with single-digit scores. In addition, there were five duck-out dismissals of the team’s best performers such as:

• Virat Kohli: 0 from 9 balls.
• Sarfaraz Khan: 0 from 3 balls. 
• KL Rahul: 0 from 6 balls. 
• Ravindra Jadeja: 0 from 6 balls.
• Ravichandran Ashwin: 0 from 1 ball.

An instant collapse of the top-order batters resulted in India losing 6 wickets for just 34 runs in the first session. Whereas, in the second session, only 12 runs were scored for the loss of 4 wickets.

List of Unwanted Records in Test Cricket Set By India

Here is the list of embarrassing records registered by India in the first test match against New Zealand on 17th October 2024:

1. Lowest Total in Home Test Matches:

After 37 years, India once again registered its lowest total in red-ball cricket at home. Previously, the lowest total in tests was 75 all-out against West Indies at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi in 1987. Here is a list of the lowest scores accumulated by India in the home test cricket matches:

2. Third-Lowest Score for India in Test Cricket History:

Moreover, India registered another humiliating record of scoring their third-lowest total in the test cricket played so far. The previous lowest total was 36-9 in 21.2 overs against Australia in the day-night test match played at Adelaide Oval in December 2021.

India’s six lowest scores against these opponent teams in test matches, including the home and away venues are tabulated below in detail:

3. Most Number of Ducks for India in a Test Innings:

This is the sixth most number of duck-out dismissals for India in a test innings against these teams:

4. Top Indian Batters Dismissing for a Duck:

It is the third instance where India’s four of the top seven batters were dismissed for a duck in a test innings:

Final Opinion:

Unfortunately, the Indian batters had to face severe consequences opting to bat under cloudy skies and on a pitch that remained covered for the past three days due to severe rains in Bengaluru.

There were huge expectations that India would tear apart New Zealand after a stunning victory of 2-0 whitewash against Bangladesh in the test series. In contrast, the New Zealand pace bowlers took advantage of the weather and pitch conditions, which were similar to the green pitches on their homeground. As the first test match is scheduled to conclude on October 20, India has still three more days left to bounce back from a collapsing start to win the game and ensure to secure a 1-0 lead in the 3-match test series.