India's clean sweep of victories in Tests
India cruised to another victory as they bowled out New Zealand for 153, winning the third test match by a huge 321 runs. The home side had defeated the Kiwis comprehensively in the first two games of the series and went on to complete an emphatic whitewash as Cheteshwar Pujara shone with the bat and Ashwin picked 13 wickets in the match.
With another clean sweep in the kitty for Team India, we take a look at the past instances where Team India have managed to defeat their opponents in all Test matches of a series (*minimum of three matches in a series):
#1 India vs England 3-0, 1992/93
It was a series dominated entirely by the Indians as they went on to defeat a strong English team in a 3-match series achieving a first clean sweep for the team. The English team arrived with a lot of scrutiny and criticism surrounding the team selection as stalwarts David Gower, Jack Russell, and Ian Salisbury had been left out.
In the first Test at Kolkata, the home team scored 371 in the first innings, riding on the back of a masterful 182 by captain Mohammad Azharuddin. An impressive bowling performance by the Indian spinners as Anil Kumble, Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan decimated the English batters, and picked three wickets each.
England ended their first innings for 163 and after India enforced the follow-on, could manage 286 in the second innings with Mike Gatting scoring a fighting 81. India reached the target of 82 with relative ease and they won the match with 8 wickets to spare. Captain Azharuddin was adjudged Man of the Match.
The second test at Chennai was also dominated by the Indians as Navjot Singh Sidhu (106) and Sachin Tendulkar (165) helped India to a massive 560 in the first innings. The spinners worked their magic again as England were bowled out for 286 in the first innings and 252 in the second innings. Anil Kumble shone with 8 wickets in the match while the other two spinners also impressed.
Chris Lewis’ (117) in the second innings was one of the very few positives for the Englishmen as India won the match by an innings and 22 runs. The Little Master was named Man of the Match for his brilliant knock in the first innings. India 2-0.
England managed to go past 300 for the first time in the third Test at the Wankhede as they reached 347 with Man of the Match Graeme Hick (178) shining with the bat. But Vinod Kambli scored big and the left-hander hit an enchanting 224 at his home. India scored 591 in their first innings and bowled the English out for 229, sealing the clean sweep by an innings and 15 runs. Kumble claimed 7 wickets in the match.
India won the series 3-0 at home as Anil Kumble was adjudged the Man of the Series for his 21 wickets in the series.