By defeating England in the ongoing five-match Test series, India bettered their own record of winning the most number of Test series consecutively at home. It happened to be India’s 17th consecutive Test series win on home soil, with the second-best record in this aspect being Australia’s streak of 10.
Here, we will look at the top five teams with the most consecutive Test series wins at home:
#5 New Zealand: 8 (December 2017 to January 2021)
The first name on this list happens to be the champions of the first edition of the ICC World Test Championship – New Zealand. The Kiwis had an excellent spell in red-ball cricket at home very recently, where they won eight consecutive home Test series between December 2017 to January 2021.
The streak began with a two-match series against West Indies, where Kane Williamson’s men won the first match by an innings and 67 runs, and the second match by 240 runs. Then in 2018, the first home Test series was a two-match affair against England, which New Zealand won by a 1-0 margin. While the first match saw them beating England by an innings and 49 runs, the second match ended in a draw.
The next series was at the end of 2018, which was another two-game series. The opponent this time was Sri Lanka, who did well to draw the first game but lost the second match by a whopping 423 runs. Between February and March of 2019, the Kiwis defeated Bangladesh by a 2-0 margin.
The year ended with yet another two-match series against England, and like the previous occasion from 2018, this too ended 1-0 in New Zealand’s favour. India toured New Zealand for a two-match series between February and March of 2020, and they ended up losing both games.
The seventh win of the series was a 2-0 rout against West Indies in December 2020, where the Kiwis won both games by margins of in excess of an innings. The last series in this streak was a two-game series against Pakistan, and here too, the Blackcaps won unchallenged.
#4 West Indies: 8 (March 1976 to April 1986)
From March 1976 to April 1986, West Indies created a record of being the first team to win eight consecutive Test series at home, before the record was broken by Australia a few years later. The Caribbean boys’ streak started under the captaincy of Sir Clive Lloyd, as they defeated Bishan Singh Bedi’s India by a 2-1 margin in a four-match series.
A year later, West Indies invited another Asian giant to their backyard for a five-match series – Pakistan. Mushtaq Mohammad’s team tried all they could, but Lloyd’s men walked away with a 2-1 win again. Up next was the 1978 Frank Worrell Trophy against Australia, held from March to May, where West Indies got a 3-1 win in a five-match series.
For the next three years, West Indies did not play any home Test series before England came to the Caribbean islands in February 1981. In the five-match Wisden series, West Indies won 2-0. After another long break, India came to West Indies for a five-match series, this time under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. But there was no change in fortune, as Lloyd’s team trounced them 3-0.
Another 3-0 series win in a five-match series followed against Australia in the Frank Worrell Trophy. In April 1985, New Zealand came for a four-match series and lost 2-0. The streak ended with a 5-0 whitewash against England in the Wisden Trophy.
#3 Australia: 10 (July 2004 to November 2008)
Ricky Ponting created the Australian Test behemoth of the 2000s
Between July 2004 and November 2008, Australia won ten consecutive Test series at home, which was also the second instance of the Baggy Greens doing that. The streak began with a two-match series against Sri Lanka, where Australia got a 1-0 win.
In November, New Zealand suffered a 0-2 defeat against their neighbours. Pakistan came to Australia for a three-match series a month later, only to get whitewashed 0-3.
After three consecutive series wins, Australia played a one-off Test match against ICC World XI, which was led by Graeme Smith, and defeated them by 210 runs. Ricky Ponting’s men then whitewashed West Indies 3-0 in November 2005.
A month later, South Africa arrived for a three-match series and got beat 2-0. It was followed by a historic Ashes, where Australia defeated England 5-0, which to date is among English cricket’s most humiliating experiences.
After the Ashes, Australia faced Sri Lanka in the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy and won 2-0. They were then up against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and won 2-1. The streak ended with a Trans-Tasman Trophy against New Zealand between November to December 2008, where Ponting’s team won both matches easily.
#2 Australi: 10 (November 1994 to November 2000)
Ricky Ponting’s Australia team is rightfully regarded as among the most dominant teams to have ever graced this sport, although they were not the first team in cricket’s history to win ten consecutive home Test series. Australia had done that earlier between November 1994 to November 2000, and the record started at the hands of Mark Taylor’s Australia.
In November 1995, England arrived for The Ashes and got beaten 1-3. A year later, Australia took on Pakistan in a three-game series and won 2-1. It was followed by a 3-0 clean sweep against Sri Lanka in the following month.
In the next home series, which was the Frank Worrell Trophy against West Indies, the Aussies did run into troubles but ended up winning 3-2. There were no problems in the subsequent Trans-Tasman Trophy, where they won 2-0 against the Kiwis.
South Africa arrived in December 1997 and played some good cricket, although they lost 0-1. In the next Ashes, Australia defeated England 3-1. Up next was a three-match series against Pakistan, and the captaincy was now in the hands of Steve Waugh, who led his team to a 3-0 win. Waugh’s Australia then defeated India 3-0, before Adam Gilchrist’s Australia defeated West Indies 5-0 to complete the streak.
#1 India: 17 (From February 2013 to now)
Virat Kohli being presented the ICC Test Mace which he won five years in a row as skipper
India’s streak of 17 consecutive home Test series wins started under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, who led his team to a 4-0 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win against Australia between February and March 2013. In the next series, they beat West Indies 2-0.
Up next was the Freedom Trophy against South Africa, with Virat Kohli leading the team this time. India won that series 3-0, followed by another 3-0 win against New Zealand and a 4-0 win against England.
Bangladesh came for a one-off Test in February 2017 and got pushed over, before India beat Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was followed by 1-0 wins against Asian neighbours Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and a 2-0 win against West Indies.
Kohli’s men then whitewashed South Africa 3-0 in October 2019, before they did the same to Bangladesh. In the Anthony de Mello Trophy against England, India won 301. Up next was a two-match series against New Zealand, and under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, India won it by a 1-0 margin.
The last three wins of the 17 have come under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. India first defeated Sri Lanka 2-0, before a 2-1 win against Australia and the ongoing series win against England.
