A look at India’s Test defeats at home since 2012

The last time India lost to a Test match home to a side not called England or Australia was in February 2010 when South Africa beat them by an innings and six runs in Nagpur. India went on to lose a Test series to England at home in 2012. Since then, however, rarely have any side come close to recording a victory against India in a Test match held at the latter’s home, with England and Australia being the only teams to have won in the country in this period. On Sunday, New Zealand joined this exclusive category by beating India by eight wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India was a spicy affair and that was largely because of Australia routing India in the opening Test. Umesh Yadav’s four-wicket haul helped India bowl out Australia for 260 runs as the visitors batted first. Australia responded by skittling India out for just 105 runs with spinner Steve O’Keefe recording figures of 6/35. The visitors then set a mammoth 441 for India to chase, with captain Steve Smith scoring a masterful 109 to lead Australia to 285 in their second innings. O’Keefe took yet another six-wicket haul while Nathan Lyon took four as India were all out for 107.
It was Joe Root’s 100th test and he marked it by 218 very classy rins in 377 balls. The innings broke India’s back and the hosts never really recovered from it. India’s bowlers made a strong comeback by dismissing England for 178 runs in the second innings, with Ravichandran Ashwin returning figures of 6/61, but India were left to chase a target of 420. Captain Virat Kohli scored 72 but India were all out for 192.
It was a three-day Test played on a pitch that was initially deemed ‘poor’ but the ICC but then later upgraded to ‘below’ average after the BCCI filed an appeal against the ruling. The ball was turning square and incredibly, it was Australia that won on a surface like that and not India. Matthew Kuhnemann took five wickets while Nathan Lyon took three as India were all out for 109 runs in the first innings. Usman Khawaja’s 60 poff 147 balls helped Australia scored 197 after which India were skittled out for just 163 runs with Lyon taking a whopping eight wickets. Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne then led Australia over the line in the 76-run chase.
Bazball made quite an entry in India as a thrilling Test match in Hyderabad ended in England’s favour. Captain Ben Stokes’ 77 in 88 balls helped England get to a score of 246 with spin twins Jadeja and Ashwin taking three wickets each for India. India then scored 436 in response despite none of their batters scoring a century, with significant contributions from nearly everyone who batted for the hosts. England, however, struck back thanks to Ollie Pope scoring a masterful 196 in 278 balls, setting India a target of 231 to chase. Spinner Tom Hartley, who was clubbed for 131 runs in 25 overs in India’s first innings, played the star role in leading England to victory after that, recording figures of 7/62 n 26.2 overs.