Sun Nov 03 08:38:02 UTC 2024: ## India Suffer Historic Whitewash at Home, World Test Championship Spot in Jeopardy
**Mumbai, India:** In a shocking turn of events, India suffered a humiliating 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand in the recently concluded Test series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This is the first time ever that India has been whitewashed in a three-match Test series at home.
The defeat has put India’s position in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle points table in jeopardy. They are no longer at the top spot, trailing Australia and now dangerously close to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in third and fourth respectively.
India’s percentage points (PCT) stand at 58.33, compared to Australia’s 62.50. Sri Lanka and New Zealand have PCTs of 55.56 and 54.55 respectively. With a challenging five-Test series against Australia in Australia coming up, India’s place in the top two, qualifying for the final in June 2025, could be in danger.
The final WTC standings are far from decided as all top six teams face each other multiple times in the remaining matches. Sri Lanka faces South Africa and Australia, while New Zealand hosts England for a three-Test series in November and December.
The series defeat was particularly embarrassing for India, as they were set a mere target of 146 runs in the third Test. However, India’s batting crumbled against the spin bowling of Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips, collapsing to 71/6 at one stage.
Rishabh Pant’s valiant 64 kept India’s hopes alive for a while, but the rest of the batting order failed to capitalize, leading to a decisive victory for New Zealand.
This historic win for New Zealand has been described as their greatest-ever series win by former players and commentators Ian Smith and Simon Doull.
First Piper 