NZ inflict on India first whitewash at home, Rohit Sharma takes blame

For the first time in history, India were whitewashed in a home series of three or more Test matches after they went down to New Zealand by 25 runs in the third and final Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

India had lost a two-Test series 2-0 to South Africa in 2000 but that was the closest to suffering a whitewash that India had come.

This was only the third time that India have lost three Tests in a row at home. The first occasion was 1958-59 when West Indies won the second, third, and fourth Tests in a row but drew the first and fifth Tests.

Then in 1976-77, England won the first three Test matches before India won the next and drew the fifth.

So this is the first time India have lost all Tests in a home series comprising at least three Test matches.

India were faced with a target of 147 after New Zealand could add only three to their overnight score.

India had a horrendous start, getting reduced to 29/5 as Yashasvi Jaiswal (5), Rohit Sharma (11), Shubman Gill (1), Virat Kohli (1), and Sarfaraz Khan (1) were back in the pavilion. Rishabh Pant offered resistance with 64 off 57 balls (9x4s, 1x6), attacking the bowlers, but he was out when India still needed 41 to win. After his dismissal as the seventh wicket, India folded for 121.

Ajaz Patel ended with 6/57 while Glenn Phillips took 3/42. Matt Henry took 1/10, removing skipper Rohit Sharma.

“As a captain, I wasn’t at my best leading the side and also as a batsman. We did not bat well. We failed to apply ourselves,” said Sharma after the match.

Sharma, however, praised some of the Indian youngsters.

“Players like them (Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, and Shubman Gill) showed the way how to bat on these surfaces.”

Tags : New Zealand, India, Cricket, Mumbai, Wankhede, History, Ajaz Patel, Rohit Sharma