Indians recorded a 1-0 series victory in New Zealand after 41 years

Indians clinched a series victory 1-0 after the span of 41 years and rain denied Indians their deserved 2-0 series victory.

Indians were unable to win the 3rd and final Test due to various reasons. The main reason is being rain which played spoilsport. There were decision went against Indians. Timeliness of declaration has raised eyebrows of many. Indians could have declared well before the tea and they have not done it even after weather forecast clearly mentioned that there will be rain.

It is obvious that Indians wants to set improbable score to chase down. They have already lead the series 1-0 and they chosen to declare late are only showing that they are too defensive. But when you want to attain number one spot, you have to go and win all the Test matches. This series victory is the third successive one after they have beaten top ranked Australian last November. Indians now can stake claim for number 1 spot but defensives they have adopted in the drawn 3rd Test were not quiet encouraging. It is clear that Indians emerging as tough contenders to challenge Australia for top slot.

There are records and positives happened for India in this series. Indians bowling strength is spin but new ball duo Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma played key roles to put India in winning positions. This bowling duo considered best in the business today. Harbhajan too with experience troubled the batsmen with gritty drift. Gautam Gambhir had a great run by scoring 445 runs scoring two hundreds and one fifty at an average of 89. As an Indian, Gambhir further scored maximum runs in 25 Tests by surpassing Sunil Gavaskar. Gambhir scored 2271 runs in 25 Test eclipsing Sunil Gavaskar 2256 in 25 matches, Rahul Dravid too set a record for most number of catches (182) by breaking Mark Waugh’s record of 181.

After the series victory, Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni earmarked that his team has really set a benchmark and it will be difficult for future visiting Indian teams to break it. Click here to check my cricket blog