From New Zealand to South Africa: Kolkata revives Gambhir's unforgettable tenure since 2024

It is normal for teams and coaches and captains to break records after a match or a series. India;s Head coach who is not new but not too old, has been creating a good number of records but in a negative way. Gautam Gambhir initially started his days having Rohit Sharma as the all-format captain. He won the Champions Trophy at UAE having Rohit leading the side

However, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli suspiciously retired from the Tests and is fighting thier own battles to be relevant for the 2027 ODI World Cup. 

Gautam Gambhir's record-breaking heartbreaks started with the ODI series lost against Sri Lanka. Currently, it has been halted to being defeated to South Africa at home.

Here are the "records" Gautam Gambhir achieved as a head coach since he joined the national team

1| ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka:

It was India's first defeat to Sri Lanka in 27 years. Last time India lost a bilateral series against the country was in 1997. After that, it was in 2024, at Colombo, Charith Asalanka's team defeated India by 2-0 with the first match being tied. 

The Indian batters struggled badly trying to cope up with India's newly imposed aggressive style. Barring Rihit Sharma, none could have been defended. 

Sri Lanka’s spinners dominated the series, collecting 27 wickets — the highest number India have ever surrendered to spin in a bilateral ODI contest. The previous record was 19 wickets against Pakistan in 1996.

For Sri Lanka, this was also their most successful three-match (or shorter) bilateral ODI series in terms of spin bowling returns.

Overall, the series witnessed 43 wickets falling to spin, the highest tally ever recorded in any bilateral ODI series comprising three games or fewer.

Since India had no additional ODI fixtures lined up for 2024, the team ended the year without a single victory in the format — their first winless ODI calendar year in 45 years.

2 | India vs. New Zealand, clean sweep at home:

India was whitewashed by New Zealand in the three-match home series in 2024. This series has created a number of  forgottebale records which are:

1. The 0-3 defeat against New Zealand was India's second ever whitewash at home. Earlier in the 1999-2000 Test series against South Africa, India was clean swept, one in Bengaluru, the other one in Wankhade.
2. However, it was a two-match series, which marked New Zealand as the first team to ever whitewash India by a 0-3 margin at home.
3. India has been playing the Test series against New Zealand since 1934, which was in the British era. However, India hosted New Zealand in  1955, a series that ended in 2-0 in India favour. Since then, India has never lost a home series against the country since 2024.
4. In 2012, India faced their last home series defeat against Alastair Cook's England. England defeated India by 2-1 in the four-match series. After that, it was New Zealand in 2024 who defeated India at home.
5. The final aka the third Test was hosted at the Wankhede Stadium, where New Zealand defeated India by 25 years, marking India's first Test defeat at the venue after 12 years. Not only that, for the first time, failed to chase a sub-200 target at home (Target 147, Wankhede)

Read also: Watch: Shubman Gill walking out of Woodlands hospital after neck spasms treatment

3 | Lost  BGT after 10 years:

India was carrying forward the Border Gavaskar series glory since the 2016-2017 home Test series, with India winning the series for the first time in Australia under Virat Kohli's captaincy and Ravi Shastri in the dugoutin 2018-19. 

Ajinkya Rahane, the stand-in captain for the 2020-21 series, kept the glory alive; India won the 2022-23 at home. However, the pride shattered in 2024-25 one which also marked Rohit Sharma's last series as captain and a player. It was the series, where Virat Kohli got his final Test century. at Perth, and was also his final Test series. 

However, this series carried several other heartbreaks apart from giving back the BG trophy to the Australians. These are:

1. India lost a Test at Melbourne after 12 years. Back in 2011 tour, India lost by 122 runs against Michael Clarke's Australia. After that in the fourth Test of 2024-25 BGT, Asutralia defeated India by 184 runs.
2. After 12 years, lost 3 Tests in a series vs Australia, as Australi defeated India by 3-1.
3. With that India failed to qualify for the World Test Championship for the first time since its inception in 2019.

4 | India vs England 2025:

The India vs England Series in 2025 at England has been one of the insive Test series, ending in a draw of 2-2, with the fourth Test being drawn at Manchester. However, this Test too had some unwanted outcomes.

1. India witness five centuries in the first match, coming from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147), Rishabh Pant (134, 118) and KL Rahul (137). Yet, India could not manage a win, marking the first time ever in Test cricket's history to lose a match despite having 5 centuries.
2. India failed to defend 370 runs at Leeds, which became the second instance in 92 years.
3. India fell short of a sub-200 chase against England for just the second time, failing to reach a target of 190 at Lord’s — a rare collapse in their long duel with the hosts.
4. The bowling unit also endured a major setback in Manchester, conceding more than 600 runs in a single Test innings for the first time in 11 years.

5 | India ODI tour of Australia 2025:

India was happy to have Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma back after 7 months but suffered a 2-1 loss in the ODI series, whith India winning the final one.

In the second match at Adelaide, Shubman Gill became the sixth Indian captain to lose his first two ODIs after a two-wicket defeat to Australia at Adelaide, joining hands with KL Rahul, Mohammed Azharuddin, Kris Srikkanth, Dilip Vengasarkar and Ajit Wadekar.

The defeat also broke India’s strong ODI run at Adelaide Oval, marking their first loss there in six games since Australia beat them by 50 runs in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Tri-series.

6 | India's defeat against South Africa at Kolkata:

South Africa have repeatedly exposed India’s weaknesses at Kolkata, and the 2025 defeat added another painful entry. India failed to chase 124 at Eden Gardens—their lowest unsuccessful chase at home against the Proteas. This also marked South Africa’s second-lowest target ever defended, and only the second time in 21 years that any visiting team defended under 150 in India.

Earlier too, South Africa dominated India at this venue, including the crushing innings victories of 1996 and 2000. Eden Gardens, usually India’s fortress, has instead become a grim reminder of South Africa’s ability to outplay them in pressure moments.