SENA-sational Twist: Analyzing Team India's anti-90s phenomenon in Test cricket
Indian cricket fans from the 90s would be well-versed with the phrase 'tigers at home and lambs abroad'. The idiom was used in reference to India being near invincible in Tests at home, but struggling miserably when they played abroad, particularly in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries.
The Indian Test team of the 1990s, which was mostly led by Mohammad Azharuddin, dominated Test matches at home on rank turners. The legendary Anil Kumble ran through opponents, with support from off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan and left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju. On the other hand, batters Sachin Tendulkar, Navjot Sidhu, Azhar himself and, briefly, Vinod Kambli notched up big scores.
The same Indian batters, with the exception of Tendulkar, looked completely at sea when traveling to SENA nations for Test challengers. Pacers Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad did well with the ball but were often led down by the fragile batting line-up, which crumbled rather embarrassingly in some matches.
Over the last couple of decades, though, things have changed drastically. India have been winning Test matches a lot more in SENA countries. On the flip side, though, their dominance at home seems to have dipped to a slight extent, although the overall numbers don’t reflect the same.
Recently, they were stunned 3-0 at home by New Zealand, a first in India's Test history, only to make a stellar comeback and register their biggest Test win in Australia by 295 runs in Perth.
In the wake of Team India's contrasting Test results over the last couple of months, we take an in-depth statistical look into how the Indian side performed in Tests at home in the 90s vis-a-vis their record in SENA countries during the decade and track how their fortunes have changed since the turn of the millennium.
India's Test record from 1990 to 1999: Home vs SENA nations
From 1990 to 1999, India played 30 Test matches at home, winning 17 and losing five, while eight matches ended in a draw. India famously thumped England 3-0 in 1993 as Kambli top-scored with 317 runs, while Kumble claimed 17 wickets. India also whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in 1994. This time, Azhar (307) was the leading run-getter, while Kumble (18) again topped the bowling charts.
Team India's first Test loss at home in the 1990s came against West Indies in Mohali in December 1994. The visitors won the contest by 243 runs as the three-match series was squared 1-1. India also lost a Test against South Africa in Kolkata in November 1996 and against Australia in Bengaluru in 1998, but won the Test series by 2-1 margins.
The hosts went on to lose two Test matches against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1999. They were beaten in 12 runs in the famous Test in Chennai in January and lost to the same opposition by 46 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in February in the Asian Test Championship.
In contrast, India played 26 Test matches in SENA countries from 1990 to 1999. They failed to win a single match, losing 13 Tests, while the other 13 ended in a draw. The visitors were beaten 1-0 in New Zealand in 1990 and lost in England by the same margin in the same year.
They toured Australia for a five-match series in 1991-92 and while Tendulkar hit two famous tons, India ended up being hammered 4-0. The visitors went on to suffer series losses in South Africa in 1992-93 and again in 1996-97. England beat them 1-0 in a three-match series in 1996, but this tour saw the emergence of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, sowing the seeds for a bright future.
Coming back to the 1990s, India went down to New Zealand 1-0 in 1998-99 and were hammered 3-0 by Australia in 1999-2000. (The third Test of the series was played in January 2000 in Sydney, which India lost by an innings and 141 runs. VVS Laxman, though, scored a famous 167 in the second innings).
India's Test record from 2000 to 2009: Home vs SENA nations
From 2000 to 2009, India played 47 Test matches at home, winning 21 and losing eight, while 18 games ended in a draw. During this decade, they suffered a 2-0 loss against South Africa in 2000. The hosts also lost the first Test of the 2001 series against Australia by 10 wickets in Mumbai but made an iconic comeback to clinch the series by a 2-1 margin.
In 2001, they also won the three-match series against England 1-0. India, however, suffered another home series loss as Australia beat them 2-1 in a four-match series in 2004. In 2005, they had to share the three-match series with Pakistan 1-1 as the visitors beat India by 186 runs in the third Test in Bengaluru.
India suffered two more Test defeats during this decade, going down to England by 212 runs in Mumbai (2006) as the three-match series was drawn 1-1. They were crushed by the Proteas by an innings and 90 runs in Ahmedabad (2008) in another Test series that ended in a 1-1 result.
(The above chart shows the significant improvement in India's performance in SENA nations, even as their home performance has been pretty much the same.)
Looking at India's performance in SENA countries from 2000 to 2009, they played 26 matches, winning six and losing 10, while 10 games ended in a draw. The visitors beat England in Leeds by an innings and 46 runs as Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly all scored hundred. Also, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh formed a formidable bowling attack.
India famously went on to beat Australia by four wickets in December 2003, their first Test win in the country in 22 years. The visitors then registered their maiden Test win in South Africa, beating the Proteas by 123 runs in Johannesburg in 2006. They also beat England in Nottingham (2007), Australia at the WACA, Perth (2008) and New Zealand in Hamilton (2009).
India's Test record from 2010 to present: Home vs SENA nations
From the start of 2010 to the present, India have played 72 Tests at home, winning 51 and losing 10, while 11 games have ended in a draw. While the stats look impressive overall, they have suffered two series defeats during this period. England beat them 2-1 in 2012, while the Kiwis recently hammered them 3-0.
During this period, India also lost a Test match to South Africa by an innings and six runs in Nagpur (2010). Starting from 2017, they have lost seven Test matches at home. Australia beat them by 333 runs in Pune (2017). They also lost to England in Chennai in 2021 and to Australia in Indore in 2023. In 2024 itself, they have lost four Tests - one against the Englishmen and three against the Kiwis.
Looking at India's Test performance in SENA nations since the start of 2010, they have won 13 out of 55 matches, losing 33, while nine games have ended in a draw. They beat South Africa in Durban (2010), Johannesburg (2018), Centurion (2021) and Cape Town (2024)
Incredibly, India have beaten Australia Down Under five times since the start of 2010. They registered 2-1 series wins in 2018-19 and 2020-21 and have gotten off to a winning start in the ongoing series by clinching the Perth Test. India have also beaten England four times during this period - Lord's (2014), Nottingham (2018), Lord's (2021) and The Oval (2021).
(Stats courtesy: Cricinfo Statsguru)