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Pune: Ever since the first innings folded at 105 on Day 2, one thing that seemed in jeopardy was the unbeaten streak that Virat Kohli had proudly protected for 19 matches. And as India lost the Test at Pune by 333 runs Virat Kohli tasted his third defeat in test matches.
19 matches is India’s longest unbeaten streak in Tests, going past their 17 match streak between September 1985 and March 1987. The current sequence started off with a 278-run win in Colombo after which they added 13 more wins.
The previous longest sequence had just four wins, a tie and a 12 draws. India reached the number nineteen Tests under Virat Kohli’s captaincy after they romped home to 208-run victory over Bangladesh.
India last tasted a home defeat in Tests, dating back to their 2012 defeat against England in Kolkata. The only longer sequence came between January 1977 and January 1980, when India played 20 Tests at home, winning six and drawing 14. However, they’ve won 16 out of the 19 in the current run.
The fact that only four other teams have managed to string together such a run in the 140-year history of Test cricket puts in perspective India’s prolific run.
Coincidentally Australia too enjoyed a similar streak of 18 unbeaten matches between September 1999 and Mar 2001. And now it is australia who ended the unbeaten streak. It may be recalled here that Steve Smith had earlier stated that this series would be a challenging one but they had the intention of stopping India’s current run of form.
The win against Bangladesh also meant that India extended their unbeaten run in Tests at home to 20 matches. This equalled India’s longest run of being unbeaten in Test matches at home.
The last time India were beaten in a home Test match was by England in December 2012; since then, India have won 17 Tests and drawn 3 others.
The Indian team had set new records one of which now won the last six Test series they have competed in – a feat no other Indian team of the past had been able to achieve. India’s longest series-winning-streak previously was five Test series – achieved between October 2008 and January 2010.
The win in Hyderabad was India’s 15th under Virat Kohli as Test captain.
Brief scores
Australia - 260 (Renshaw 68, Starc 61, Umesh 4-32) and 285 (Smith 109, Ashwin 4-119)
India - 105 (Rahul 64, O'Keefe 6-35) and 107 (Pujara 31, O'Keefe 6-35)
Result - Australia won by 333 runs
