Rohit Sharma Equals MAK Pataudi’s 55-Year-Old Unwanted Record After NZ Beat India In 3rd Test
New Zealand beat India by 26 runs in the third Test played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (November 3) to win the three-match series with a scoreline of 3-0.
Indian batters could only manage to score 121 runs in the 147-run chase. The defeat in the third Test was a bitter pillow to swallow for the hosts, as for the first time in history, India has suffered a whitewash in a three-match series played in front of home fans.
The defeat in the third Test against New Zealand was India’s fourth defeat in 11 Tests played so far this year, and all of those four defeats came in India. By losing four matches on Indian soil in 2024, Rohit equalled former Indian skipper MAK Pataudi’s unwanted record of losing most Tests at home in a calendar year.
Under Pataudi’s leadership, India lost one Test against New Zealand and three against Australia in 1969. Rohit suffered his first defeat as India captain in 2024 against England during the first Test, which was played from January 25 to 28 in Hyderabad.
India went on to win the next six Tests but suffered shocking defeats in back-to-back three Tests against Kiwis. The Black Caps in Tom Latham’s first series as captain hammered India by 8 wickets in Bengaluru, 113 runs in Pune, and 26 runs in Mumbai.
Rohit has overall lost five Tests in India now, which puts him at No. 2 position in the list of Indian captains to lose most Tests at home. Only Pataudi (9) has lost more Tests than Rohit in India.
During his time as India captain, Virat Kohli only lost three Tests in India.
After suffering an embarrassing defeat at home, India will now travel to Australia to take part in a five-match Test series. The series opener of the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to take place at Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22, and the remaining four matches will be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, respectively.
India, which dropped to No. 2 position in the WTC 2023-25 points table, has to win four of the remaining five matches now to confirm place in the WTC 2025 final.