India eyeing 92-year first in 1st Test vs Bangladesh
India start their Test cricket season with a two-match Test series against Bangladesh
India are looking to start their final tilt at sealing qualification to the World Test Championship (WTC) Final on a high as they face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home. This will be followed by a three-match home Test series against New Zealand before they embark on a five-match tour of Australia. The Rohit Sharma-led side would be looking to be especially dominant in the home Test matches, as they have been for well over a decade.
India have always been a difficult side to beat at home but they have been especially dominant since 2013, which marks the last time they lost a Test series at home. Since then they have won a record 17 Test series on the trot at home. Moreover, they have lost just four Test matches at home in this period as well.
In this period, India have also been among the best touring sides in the world, recording consecutive series wins in Australia and series wins in Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh. They have also managed to draw series in England and South Africa.
The 21st century turnaround
All of this has meant that India have managed to now level up the number of Test matches they have won to the number of matches they have lost since they played their first red-ball match in June 1932. Of the 579 Tests they have played, India have won and lost 178 matches and drawn 222. There has also been one extraordinary tied Test in Chennai in September 1986. If India manage to win the first Test, as they are expected, their win-loss ration would go above one for the first time in their Test history.
India will be the fifth team to have more wins than losses in their Test history after Australia, England, Pakistan and South Africa. The turnaround in the 21st century has been remarkable. India came into it with 63 wins and 112 defeats from 336 matches played. It put the country’s win-loss record in Tests at 0.562. It now stands at exactly 1.