IND vs NZ Tests: Statistical Highlights in Tests between the two giants of Test cricket over the years. Top run-getter, wicket-takers, century-makers and overall wins by team.
New Zealand are set to tour India for a three-match Test series for the 13th time in history, continuing their long and storied rivalry. The Kiwis first toured the country for Tests in a five-match series back in 1955. Overall, they have played 36 Test matches in India.
India have dominated the proceedings as expected, winning 17 games and losing just two. In fact, New Zealand’s last of the two wins came in 1988 at Wankhede, where they defeated India by 136 runs.
While the Kiwis drew two Test series in 1969 and 2003, they are yet to win a series in India. On the other hand, the Blackcaps have had an edge over India while playing in SENA conditions.
Here let us look at some of the statistical highlights in Tests between both the sides.
| Host | Tests | India Win | NZ Win | Draw |
| India | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 |
| New Zealand | 25 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Neutral | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Overall | 62 | 22 | 13 | 27 |
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Top run-getters in India vs New Zealand Tests
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 50s/100s |
| Rahul Dravid | 15 | 1659 | 63.80 | 6/6 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 24 | 1595 | 46.91 | 8/4 |
| Brendon McCullum | 10 | 1224 | 68.00 | 2/4 |
| Graham Dowling | 11 | 964 | 48.20 | 2/3 |
| Ross Taylor | 17 | 890 | 30.68 | 1/3 |
Most Centuries in India vs New Zealand Tests
| Player | Innings | Runs | 100s | Highest Score |
| Rahul Dravid | 28 | 1659 | 6 | 222 |
| Brendon McCullum | 19 | 1224 | 4 | 302 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 39 | 1595 | 4 | 217 |
| Graham Dowling | 22 | 964 | 3 | 239 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 15 | 563 | 3 | 125 |
One may have expected Sachin Tendulkar, who has played the most number of Test matches featuring both sides, to lead the run-charts. But it is Rahul Dravid who is the most prolific run-scorer. The former India skipper has registered the most runs in Tests played between India and New Zealand.
He scored 893 runs in the eight Tests he played in India at an average of 63.78 with four centuries, while the rest 766 runs at 63.83 came on New Zealand soil. This includes the twin centuries (190 & 103*) he scored at Hamilton in India’s tour of New Zealand in 1999.
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Most wickets in India vs New Zealand Tests
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Strike Rate |
| Ravi Ashwin | 9 | 66 | 15.43 | 35.7 |
| Sir Richard Hadlee | 14 | 65 | 22.96 | 47.7 |
| Bishen Singh Bedi | 12 | 57 | 19.14 | 68.1 |
| Erapalli Prasanna | 10 | 55 | 20.12 | 53.5 |
| Tim Southee | 11 | 52 | 24.69 | 46.9 |
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Most Fifers in India vs New Zealand Tests
| Player | Innings | Wickets | 5 wkts | BBM |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 17 | 66 | 6 | 7/59 |
| Bishen Singh Bedi | 22 | 57 | 4 | 6/42 |
| Subhash Gupte | 10 | 34 | 4 | 7/128 |
| Sir Richard Hadlee | 24 | 65 | 4 | 7/23 |
| Zaheer Khan | 24 | 47 | 4 | 5/29 |
Most Ten wicket hauls in India vs New Zealand Tests
| Player | Innings | Wickets | 10 wkt | BBM |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 17 | 66 | 3 | 13/140 |
| Sir Richard Hadlee | 24 | 65 | 2 | 11/58 |
| Anil Kumble | 18 | 50 | 1 | 10/134 |
| Ajaz Patel | 6 | 17 | 1 | 14/225 |
| Erapalli Prasanna | 18 | 55 | 1 | 11/140 |
While Dravid heads the batting charts, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin holds all the possible records in the bowling department. The champion off-spinner from India has taken 66 wickets in just nine Test matches against New Zealand.
Ashwin picked 5-wicket hauls on six different occasions and has taken fifers in both innings twice. While the first one came in Hyderabad in 2012 (6/31 & 6/54), the other came four years later in Indore (6/81 & 7/59). The veteran took another of his match winning 10-wicket hauls in a 2016 Test at Kanpur (4/93 & 6/132).
To sum it up, Ashwin snapped 59 wickets from 7 games he played in India against the Kiwis. These came at an average of 14.83. He has also scalped seven wickets away from home at 20.57 apiece.
Being an active player, Ashwin has the chance to go further up and add more to his tally when both sides meet in the first Test at Bengaluru on 16 October, 2024.
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