"Will miss you my beautiful streak" - Fans in agony as India's 12-year invincible record comes to an end with a loss in 2nd Test against New Zealand
New Zealand scripted history by becoming the first visiting side to defeat India in a Test series since 2012. The Tom Latham-led side claimed an unassailable 2-0 lead with a dominant 113-run win in the second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Saturday, October 26.
Team India were handed a tall ask of chasing down 359 runs to keep their streak alive. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal announced their intent early in the innings, with the latter recording a sublime fifty. From 127/2, India collapsed to 167/7 in no time, which includes Rishabh Pant's duck.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin tried to keep the run chase alive, but New Zealand had enough runs in the bag to take their time. India managed to take the game into the final session, as Ravindra Jadeja held one end. However, New Zealand inevitably claimed the final set of wickets to secure the win.
Fans were far from happy with the performance on home soil that saw the end of an iconic run in Indian cricketing history. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:
"TOOTA HAI GHAR KA GHAMAND, JEET GAYI HAI NEW ZEALAND," one user wrote.
"Losing this Test Series is bigger than Losing an ICC Final," another user commented.
"Last 2 test matches have made me realise the importance of dull, old boring test draws where nobody had any intention to win," one fan posted.
"For us to do it for the first time is indescribable" - Glenn Phillips on New Zealand's remarkable achievement
New Zealand have defied the odds to beat India in the subcontinent, and were dominant across all departments to achieve dominant wins successively. Mitchell Santner chipped in with a performance for the ages to finish with 13 wickets in the match while the rest of the team also chipped in to make it a complete performance.
"For us to do it for the first time is indescribable. It has been very tough to compete with the Indian boys in their conditions. We tried to learn and adapt, and be a bit more positive in these conditions. For it to pay off like this feels amazing," Glenn Phillips told the broadcasters after the win.
The third Test of the series is scheduled to take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from November 1 onwards.