IND vs NZ 2021: Rohit Sharma surpasses Virat Kohli, and 6 other notable stats from 3rd India-New Zealand T20I

India’s new era under the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid partnership started with a 3-0 T20I series win over New Zealand. A similar script to that of Jaipur and Ranchi unfolded in Kolkata, as India won by 73 runs to complete their second consecutive whitewash against the visitors in bilateral T20I series.

Sharma won the toss for the third time, and but he elected to bowl on this occasion. Riding on his good form and an impressive show from the lower middle-order, India piled up 184 runs. In response, barring Martin Guptill, no other New Zealand batter got going in the game.

On that note, here’s a look at seven milestones and records registered at the end of the India-New Zealand series.

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#1 India’s happy home run continues

India have now won five consecutive T20I series at home. The run began against Bangladesh in 2019.

India’s last five T20I series

• India beat New Zealand (3-0), 2021-22
• India beat England (3-2), 2020-21
• India beat Sri Lanka (2-1), 2019-20
• India beat West Indies (2-1), 2019-20
• India beat Bangladesh (2-1), 2019-20

In addition, India have also won series in New Zealand (5-0) and Australia (2-1) in 2020.

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#2 India now have the joint-most whitewashes in series of 3+ matches in T20Is

India are tied with Pakistan for the most whitewashes in a series of three or more T20Is. India and Pakistan have done it six times, while Afghanistan have done it five times and England four.

India’s whitewashes in T20Is (3+ matches):

• India beat Australia (3-0) in 2016 (Away)
• India beat Sri Lanka (3-0) in 2017 (Away)
• India beat West Indies (3-0) in 2018 (Home)
• India beat West Indies (3-0) in 2019 (Away)
• India beat New Zealand (5-0) in 2020 (Away)
• India beat New Zealand (3-0) in 2021 (Home)

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#3 India’s recent dominance against New Zealand in bilateral series continues

This is India’s second consecutive clean sweep against New Zealand in T20Is. In 2019-20, India won 5-0 in New Zealand, and have now followed that up with a 3-0 win at home.

Until New Zealand’s tour of India in 2017-18, India hadn’t won a single T20I against the Kiwis. The next two years saw evenly contested games. However, India have dominated since the start of 2020. Their only loss during this period came in the 2021 T20 World Cup, which played a massive role in the team’s exit before the knockouts.

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#4 Record 50+ stands in consecutive T20Is

India are the first team to record 50-plus opening partnerships in six or more consecutive T20Is. India’s run began against Afghanistan earlier this month in Abu Dhabi when Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul registered a 140-run stand.

Five of the six stands are between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. The last one, a stand of 69, was between Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

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#5 Hit-wicket co-incidences

Only two Indians have been dismissed hit-wicket in T20Is. Harshal Patel was dismissed for 18 at Eden Gardens on Sunday. KL Rahul was the first Indian to be dismissed hit-wicket in T20Is. He, too, scored an 18, against Sri Lanka in Colombo during the Nidahas Trophy.

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#6 Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking spree

Eden Gardens and Rohit Sharma’s love affair, continued as Sharma registered his 30th fifty-plus score in T20Is. He now has the most fifty-plus scores in T20Is, with Virat Kohli (29) and Babar Azam (25) following him.

Rohit Sharma also became the second player after Martin Guptill to register over 150 sixes in T20Is. He also has over 50 sixes as India’s captain.

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#7 Rohit Sharma’s golden run as T20I captain

Rohit Sharma has 18 wins from 22 matches as India’s T20I captain, with his success rate reading 81.8%. Taking a cut-off of more than three T20Is, Sharma has the best success rate followed by Virat Kohli (64.6%) and MS Dhoni (59.35).

Sharma’s success rate is commendable because none of the matches he has led featured India’s star batter Kohli.