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India break Australia's record for most consecutive test series wins at home
I
ndia have written
themselves into the
history books, with
their 11th consecutive
test cricket series win at
home.
In notching their
biggest-ever win over South
Africa - by an innings and
137 runs - on day four of
the second test in Pune on
Sunday night (NZ time),
India eclipsed Australia's
previous record streak of 10
home series victories.
Australia had managed
10 in a row twice - from
1994 to 2001, then again
India have made history with their 11th successive test cricket series win on home soil.
between 2004 and 2008 -
while India's successful run
dates back to their 4-0 sweep
of Australia in 2012-13.
Since then, India have gone
on to defeat the West Indies,
South Africa, New Zealand,
England, Bagladesh,
Australia again, Sri Lanka,
The Auckland Times | Issue 185| October 15, 2019
Afghanistan, the West Indies
again, and now the Proteas
again, with an unassailable
2-0 lead in their three-match
series.
After winning the first
test in Visakhapatnam
by 203 runs, India again
piled on the misery for
the visitors, amassing a
whopping 601-5 declared
"The mindset is always to
help the team and in that
process big runs come,"
Kohli said. "The pressure
goes away when you start
thinking about the team.
"I am at a stage in my
career where I am happy
to be playing the way I am
and contributing for the
team. Putting the team in a
commanding position is my
goal."
The hosts then bowled
South Africa out for just
189, enforced the follow on
on the penultimate day and
then dismissed the tourists
for 275 in their second dig.
It keeps India with
a perfect four from four
record in the world test
championship, and is the
30th win under Kohli's
captaincy, in 50 tests. Only
two skippers have had more
success in their first 50 tests
as captain - Australians
Steve Waugh (37) and Ricky
Ponting (35).
"When we started, we
were at number seven [in
the world rankings]," Kohli
said. "The only way was up.
We laid down a few things
and are all lucky to have this
group of players.
"In the last three to four
years it's amazing to see the
hunger in this group to keep
improving."