India cruised to another victory as they bowled out New Zealand for 153, winning the third test match by a huge 321 runs. The home side had defeated the Kiwis comprehensively in the first two games of the series and went on to complete an emphatic whitewash as Cheteshwar Pujara shone with the bat and Ashwin picked 13 wickets in the match.
With another clean sweep in the kitty for Team India, we take a look at the past instances where Team India have managed to defeat their opponents in all Test matches of a series (*minimum of three matches in a series):
#1 India vs England 3-0, 1992/93
It was a series dominated entirely by the Indians as they went on to defeat a strong English team in a 3-match series achieving a first clean sweep for the team. The English team arrived with a lot of scrutiny and criticism surrounding the team selection as stalwarts David Gower, Jack Russell, and Ian Salisbury had been left out.
In the first Test at Kolkata, the home team scored 371 in the first innings, riding on the back of a masterful 182 by captain Mohammad Azharuddin. An impressive bowling performance by the Indian spinners as Anil Kumble, Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan decimated the English batters, and picked three wickets each.
England ended their first innings for 163 and after India enforced the follow-on, could manage 286 in the second innings with Mike Gatting scoring a fighting 81. India reached the target of 82 with relative ease and they won the match with 8 wickets to spare. Captain Azharuddin was adjudged Man of the Match.
The second test at Chennai was also dominated by the Indians as Navjot Singh Sidhu (106) and Sachin Tendulkar (165) helped India to a massive 560 in the first innings. The spinners worked their magic again as England were bowled out for 286 in the first innings and 252 in the second innings. Anil Kumble shone with 8 wickets in the match while the other two spinners also impressed.
Chris Lewis’ (117) in the second innings was one of the very few positives for the Englishmen as India won the match by an innings and 22 runs. The Little Master was named Man of the Match for his brilliant knock in the first innings. India 2-0.
England managed to go past 300 for the first time in the third Test at the Wankhede as they reached 347 with Man of the Match Graeme Hick (178) shining with the bat. But Vinod Kambli scored big and the left-hander hit an enchanting 224 at his home. India scored 591 in their first innings and bowled the English out for 229, sealing the clean sweep by an innings and 15 runs. Kumble claimed 7 wickets in the match.
India won the series 3-0 at home as Anil Kumble was adjudged the Man of the Series for his 21 wickets in the series.
#2 India vs Sri Lanka 3-0, 1993/94
Sri Lankans came to the Indian board’s rescue as Pakistan decided to cancel their visit to India amid fears about security. The Indian batsmen had another series to remember as the neighbours were condemned to a 3-0 series loss, with all the defeats coming with an innings to spare.
India won the first Test held at Lucknow by a huge margin of an innings and 119 runs thanks to 11 wickets in the match by leggie Anil Kumble. The Indian batsmen set it up with a massive score of 511 in the first innings as Sidhu (124) and Tendulkar (142) piled on the runs.
The Islanders struggled to cope against the Indian bowlers as they were bowled out for 218 in the first innings, as Kumble picked 4 wickets and 174 in the second innings with the Karnataka spinner causing 7 dismissals and was adjudged the Man of the Match. He showed great tenacity and determination as he bowled with injuries to his bowling arm and fingers.
In the second Test at Bangalore, Indian batters once again put up a mammoth 541 in the first innings with captain Azhar (108) scoring a century and half-centuries from Sidhu (99), Tendulkar (96), Kambli (82) and Kapil Dev (53). Manoj Prabhakar and Kapil ran through the Sri Lankan batting line up, restricting them to 231, making sure the follow-on was enforced.
Hashan Tillakaratne (80) put up a semblance of resistance the second time around, but he lacked able support from his teammates as Sri Lanka lost the game by an innings and 95 runs.
Unlike the first two matches, the third match at Ahmedabad was completely set up by the Indian spinners, with left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju being the main protagonist. He picked 5 wickets in the first innings as he made the Sri Lankan batsmen dance to his tunes with their innings crumbling to just 119. Man of the Match Azharuddin (152), hit another wonderful century on a difficult wicket as India took a first innings lead of 239.
Raju was at it again as he single-handedly ran through the Island nation’s batsmen, beating them with his guile on his way to a 6-wicket haul as the Indians finished deserving winners by an innings and 17 runs.
It was an emphatic display by the Indians as they outplayed the Lankans in all departments of the game and took the series 3-0. There was another cause for celebration in the series as World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, going past Sir Richard Hadlee’s 431 scalps, when he dismissed Tillakaratne in the final test at Ahmedabad.
#3 India vs Australia 4-0, 2012/13
India completely outplayed the mighty Aussies in four test matches at home as the Indian batsmen and spinners came to the party in a big way. There was criticism from people around the world with regard to the turning wickets that were prepared.
Hometown boy Ashwin spun a web around the Aussies as India went on to win the first test at Chennai by 8 wickets. Australia managed to score 380 in the first innings, riding on captain Michael Clarke’s 130, as Ashwin picked 7 wickets. The Indians batted the Australians out of the game as Kohli (107) and captain MS Dhoni (224) helped the team to a 192-run lead.
The Aussies struggled against the Indian spinners once again in the second innings as Ashwin, Jadeja and Harbhajan cleaned up the visitors, leaving India with a target of 50 which they chased down with 8 wickets to spare. Ashwin finished the match with 12 wickets but MSD was awarded the Man of the Match for his match-winning double century.
Clarke (91) again was the only beacon of hope for the Aussies as the Indian bowlers made light work of the visitors, dismissing them for 237 in the second match at Hyderabad. What followed was some high-class test batsmanship by Indian batsmen Murali Vijay (147) and Cheteshwar Pujara (204) as India amassed 503 in their first innings.
Ashwin ran through the Kangaroos on his way to another 5-wicket haul as they were bowled out for 131, leading to an Indian victory by an innings and 135 runs. Pujara was adjudged Man of the Match as he played an innings that would have made a certain former Indian No.3 batsman proud.
In the build-up to the third Test in Mohali, four players from the Australian squad were ruled out of contention by coach Mickey Arthur, as Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson failed to complete a task assigned by the coach.
“That was a line-in-the-sand moment”, said the South African as he sent out a strong message to his players regarding violation of team protocol. Senior statesman Watson left the tour and headed back to Australia shortly after, with a question mark surrounding his future in this Australian Test team.
But the Test will be remembered by fans for Shikhar Dhawan’s explosive Test debut as he scored a better than run-a-ball 187 along with Vijay (157), as India took a 91-run lead after Australia had managed to score 408.
The Indian bowlers made sure the visitors didn’t set a huge target as their combined efforts meant India were left with 133 runs to chase. And chase they did! After a few hiccups, the Indians won the match with 6 wickets remaining, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
It was another rank turner on offer at the Feroz Shah Kotla for the final Test as India restricted the Aussies to 262 following another fifer for Ashwin. The Australian bowlers also came to the party as off-spinner Nathan Lyon picked up 7 scalps giving India just a 10-run first innings lead.
After Ashwin, it was his partner Ravindra Jadeja’s turn to torment the Aussies with a 5-wicket haul of his own. India chased down the 155-run target for the loss of 4 wickets with Pujara scoring an unbeaten 82.
Jadeja’s 7 wickets in the match earned him a Man of the Match award, while Ashwin was awarded the Man of the Series trophy.
Whitewash in Series with 2 Tests or less
| Opponent | Home/Away | Year | Margin | Man of the Series |
| Bangladesh | Away | 2000/01 | 1-0 (1) | Sunil Joshi |
| Zimbabwe | Home | 2001/02 | 2-0 (2) | Anil Kumble |
| Bangladesh | Away | 2004/05 | 2-0 (2) | Irfan Pathan |
| Zimbabwe | Away | 2005 | 2-0 (2) | Irfan Pathan |
| Bangladesh | Away | 2009/10 | 2-0 (2) | Zaheer Khan |
| Australia | Home | 2010/11 | 2-0 (2) | Sachin Tendulkar |
| New Zealand | Home | 2012 | 2-0 (2) | Ravichandran Ashwin |
| West Indies | Home | 2013/14 | 2-0 (2) | Rohit Sharma |
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