4 occasions when India faced a whitewash in an ODI series
The Indian cricket team has been a dominant side in 50-over format over the last few years. Since 2015, India has won 18 out of the 24 ODI bilateral series played. However, there have also been instances where the Men in Blue have suffered a series whitewash, failing to win even a single game against the opposition.
India has been whitewashed four times in bilateral ODI series to date, with West Indies the only side to inflict a whitewash on India twice in their history.
In this article, we take a detailed look at the four instances where India suffered such a fate.
#1 West Indies tour of India (1983/84)
India's first-ever bilateral ODI whitewash was against the West Indies in the 1983 home series. Playing against the West Indian side for the first time since their 1983 World Cup triumph, India succumbed to a 5-0 series loss and were completely outplayed by their rivals.
The Windies won the opening ODI by 28 runs in Srinagar and then went on to dominate the next two matches. The fourth ODI turned out to be a one-sided contest as Clive Lloyd's side registered a thumping 104-run win after posting 333 on the board. The Windies then went on to win the final ODI in Guwahati by six wickets to complete the humiliation.
Gordon Greenidge and Sir Viv Richards were the top scorers in the five-match ODI series with 353 and 239 runs, respectively while none of the Indian batters managed to reach the 200-run mark.
#2 India's tour of West Indies (1988/89)
Five years later, West Indies hammered India 5-0 in the Caribbean to continue their unbeaten run against their opponents. Like the previous tour, the West Indies this time decimated the Indian team completely.
#OnThisDay in 1989, West Indies legend Viv Richards returned his career-best bowling figures of 6/41, after scoring a 42-ball 44, in a World Series match against India in Delhi.
West Indies won that game by 20 runs. https://t.co/vhyE9gOSSI
The Windies posted 248/4 batting first in the opening contest and won the match comfortably by 50 runs. They bundled India out in the next two ODIs for 148 and 192, respectively, to register six-wicket victories in both matches.
With the series in the kitty, the Viv Richards-led side won their next two matches by 8 wickets and 101 runs to complete a second successive series whitewash over India.
#3 India's tour of New Zealand (2019/20)
India suffered a 3-0 drubbing against New Zealand during their 2019-2020 tour and succumbed to their first series whitewash in over 30 years.
The series started on a poor note for India despite the side putting on a challenging score in the opening match. Batting first, India scored 347/4 on the back of a superb hundred from Shreyas Iyer.
However, riding on Ross Taylor's 109 and a quickfire 69 off 48 from Tom Latham, New Zealand managed to chase the total down with 11 balls to spare.
In the second ODI, India came close to victory but couldn't hold on and lost by 22 runs while chasing New Zealand's target of 274.
With the series already gone, India looked to salvage some pride in the final ODI match at Mount Maunganui. Batting first, Virat Kohli and Co. posted 296 runs in their quota of 50 overs. However, the bowlers failed to restrict the Kiwi charge as New Zealand managed to win the match by five wickets to take the series 3-0.
#4 India's tour of South Africa (2021/22)
India's 3-0 ODI loss against South Africa was the fourth series whitewash in their history. The Indian team, led by KL Rahul, lost the opening match of the series by 31 runs, failing to chase down South Africa's total of 296.
In the next match, the Men in Blue managed to post a competitive total of 288 runs. However, the Proteas managed to chase down the score on the back of a superb 132-run opening stand between Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock.
India came close to winning the final match of the series at Cape Town only to fall short by four runs in their chase of 284 runs.
Your player of the series Quinton de Kock put on a show at Six Gun Grill Newlands🔥
#SAvIND #BetwayODISeries #BePartOfIt https://t.co/VUQhFKjKa8
Quinton de Kock ended the series as the top run-getter with 229 runs while all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo was the top wicket-taker with six dismissals in three outings.
Note: South Africa also won an ODI series 4-0 against India during their 2006/07 tour. However, the series involved five matches with one match being washed out due to rain.