The Invaders of 21st Century: Four Teams that breached Fortress and Conquered Team India's Home Turf in Tests

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India has always been a tough place for visiting teams to win a Test series. The conditions, spin-friendly pitches and passionate fans make it tough for opponents to dominate the proceedings.

Over the last three decades, India has well and truly dominated the opponents at home. They literally gave the visiting teams a run for their money, more often than not.

Needless to say, there have been a few rare instances when visiting teams managed to win. Let's now take a look at India's Test series defeats at home since 1999.

1. South Africa's 2-0 clinical victory in 1999-2000

South Africa visited India and pulled off a 2-0 series win in 1999/00. South Africa showed their strength with respect to unfamiliar climes and inflicted a whitewash on India.

The Protea pacers, led by Shaun Pollock and supported by Allan Donald, troubled India's batting lineup in the Mumbai Test. India struggled to dictate terms in the game. They went on to lose the Test by four wickets.

Shaun Pollock was the pick of the bowlers for the Proteas as he took six wickets in that game. Sachin Tendulkar who scored 97 and took 3/10 in the first innings was adjudged the Player of the Match. The second Test in Bangalore followed a similar pattern as South Africa’s strong all-round performance led to a series sweep.

Lance Klusener top-scored with 97 whereas Jacques Kallis scored 95. The duo’s top knocks helped South Africa build a massive first-innings lead. This paved the way for an easy path to an innings and 71-run victory. This clinical series win made Proteas one of the few teams to win a Test series in India without losing a single game. Kallis was named the Man of the Series for scoring 136 runs and taking 5 wickets.

2. Australia's 2-1 Series Win in 2004

Australia's Test series glory in 2004 is often remembered as their "final frontier" conquest. Although they were one of the best teams globally, they found it extremely challenging to win in India until this series.

Michael Clarke scored a brilliant 151 in his Test debut against India and helped the Aussies secure a 217-run win in Bengaluru. He was named the Man of the Match for his stellar knock. With this win, they took the first lead in the series.

India did respond in the second Test in Chennai. However, the game ended in a rain-affected draw on the final day. During the third Test, Australia's disciplined batting and bowling helped them win by 342 runs in Nagpur and clinch the series.

Damien Martyn played a substantial role with the bat with his match-winning 97 in the second innings, which helped Australia set up a target of 543 and in reply, India were bowled out for 200. India won the last Test in Mumbai by 13 runs to register their first win in the series. However, it was not enough as the Aussies did the damage in the series by securing their first series win in India in 35 years.

Murali Kartik was the wrecker-in-chief in the last game in Mumbai as he took 4 wickets in the first innings and followed it up with three more in the second innings. India set up a target of 107 and in reply, Aussies were bundled out for 93 runs.

3. England's 2-1 Win in 2012

England's 2-1 victory in the 2012 series surprised the cricket fraternity. Actually, India started the series on a strong note by winning the first Test in Ahmedabad by nine wickets, thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara's double century and Pragyan Ojha's bowling.

Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 206 powered India to 521/8 (declared). England were no match for India's utter dominance as they couldn't catch up with the hosts in the battle before losing the game. Pujara was adjudged the Player of the Match for his scintillating double ton.

However, England bounced back in Mumbai during the second Test with the help of Monty Panesar. He dominated India’s batting lineup with ease by taking 11 wickets combined (5/129, 6/81). Besides that, Kevin Pietersen led the batting attack by example with a brilliant 186. England thrashed India by 10 wickets.

During the third Test in Kolkata, Cook chipped in with a magnificent 190 in response to India's 316. Cook's mammoth knock powered England to 523 in the first innings. On the other hand, India lacked teeth in their batting apart from Ravi Ashwin who scored a gritty 91*.

However, that wasn't enough as England chased down 41 and won the game by 7 wickets. The final Test in Nagpur ended in a draw as England claimed their first series win in India since 1984-85.

4. New Zealand upset India with a 2-0 win in 2024

The most recent home series defeat came in 2024 when New Zealand made history by winning 2-0. The first Test in Bengaluru saw New Zealand clinch an eight-wicket victory. Matt Henry (5/15) and William ORourke (4/22) took advantage of India's batting struggles in the first innings to dismiss them cheaply for just 46 runs, which is India's lowest-ever Test total at home.

New Zealand responded with 402 in the first innings, thanks to Rachin Ravindra's sterling century. India did put up a fight in the second innings by amassing 462, courtesy of Sarfaraz Khan's 150 and Rishabh Pant's 99. However, that wasn't enough as the visitors easily chased down 109 as India suffered a Test defeat. Rachin Ravindra who scored 134 in the first innings was adjudged the Player of the Match.

India struggled against spin in the second Test in Pune. Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips exploited the turning pitch and India failed to raise the bar while trying to chase the 359-run target as they fell short by 113 runs.

Batting first, New Zealand posted 259 runs and Washington Sundar was the wrecker-in-chief as he took 7 wickets. In reply, India were bundled out for just 156 runs, courtesy of Santner's 7-wicket haul.

The Kiwis responded with 255 as captain Tom Latham top-scored with 86. Indian batters had no solution to Mitchell Santner's spin code as they were bundled out for 245. This defeat ended India's 12-year unbeaten run in the home Test series. It was also New Zealand's first-ever Test series win on Indian soil.