Follow UsAlmost exactly a year back, Indian cricket seemed to have hit rock bottom when the team suffered its first-ever whitewash at home in a three-match Test series as New Zealand beat them 3-0 to end the side’s 12-year unbeaten run at home in Tests. The consensus back then was that it was the lowest of lows.
But somehow the team has sunk to an even lower low just a year later as India have now been whitewashed for a second year running, this time by South Africa. They’ve now remarkably lost 5 of their last 7 home Tests, with each of the five defeats coming under the coaching of Gautam Gambhir.
It’s truly an all-time low for India in Tests as the 408-run loss in Guwahati is their worst-ever defeat in Test cricket.
Biggest defeats for India in a Test match (by runs)
408 runs vs SA, Guwahati, 2025
342 runs vs AUS, Nagpur, 2004
341 runs vs PAK, Karachi, 2006
337 runs vs AUS, Melbourne, 2007
333 runs vs AUS, Pune, 2017
India entered day five in Guwahati needing to bat out 90 overs to save the Test, with eight wickets in hand.
But yet another appalling, toothless showing with the bat in hand - their fourth in as many innings in the series - saw the hosts fold for 140 to succumb to a 408-run defeat. Sai Sudharsan batted 139 balls and Ravindra Jadeja hit a fifty, but not a single batter apart from the two showed a semblance of fight as the Proteas ran through the hosts without breaking a sweat.
For South Africa, this was their second-biggest win in Tests and also their second-ever 400+run win in Test cricket. It’s also their first Test series win in India in 25 years, with their last series win coming in 2000, also a 2-0 whitewash, under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje. With this win, they are now the first team this century to win multiple Test series in India.
India, with the loss, have now slipped to fifth in the WTC standings, below Pakistan. South Africa are second with a PCT of 75%, while Australia are first with a 100% record.