Even though the weather forced the cancellation of two and a half days of play, India's triumph in the Kanpur Test was nothing short of a miracle, but the outcome of the series versus Bangladesh will surprise no one. The team captained by Rohit Sharma won the two-match series 2-0 after winning by totals of 280 runs and seven wickets.
With this victory, India has now won 18 straight series at home, extending their record streak throughout the globe. Under MS Dhoni's leadership, the two-time World Test Championship (WTC) finalist has won every series they have played at home since their shocking loss to England in 2012.
India-Bangladesh series creates history
Despite the odds favouring the hosts, India and Bangladesh achieved a rare first, making history in the process. In this series, which consists of at least two matches, the winning team has chosen to bowl first in each match for the first time ever on Indian soil.
In fact, a total of 293 matches by played on Indian land (including two non-Indian games hosted by Afghanistan) but only 24 times a team has won the toss and decided to bowl first. When England visited India in 1933, there was the first-ever Test match played there.
Matches In Which Team Won Toss And Bowl First In Test Matches In India
1. India v Pakistan, Eden Gardens, 12 Dec 1952
2. India v Australia, Eden Gardens, 2 Nov 1956
3. India v England, Kanpur, 15 Feb 1964
4. India v Australia, Eden Gardens, 17 Oct 1964
5. India v Australia, Eden Gardens, 12 Dec 1969
6. India v West Indies, Bengaluru, 22 Nov 1974
7. India v West Indies, Wankhede, 1 Dec 1978
8. India v England, Chennai, 13 Jan 1982
9. India v Pakistan, Jalandhar, 24 Sep 1983
10. India v West Indies, Ahmedabad, 12 Nov 1983
11. India v Pakistan, Eden Gardens, 11 Feb 1987
12. India v Sri Lanka, Mohali, 19 Nov 1997
13. India v Sri Lanka, Wankhede, 3 Dec 1997
14. India v New Zealand, Mohali, 10 Oct 1999
15. India v Australia, Wankhede, 27 Feb 2001
16. India v England, Mohali, 3 Dec 2001
17. India v Pakistan, Mohali, 8 Mar 2005
18. India v England, Wankhede, 18 Mar 2006
19. India v West Indies, Wankhede, 14 Nov 2013
20. India v South Africa, Bengaluru, 14 Nov 2015
21. India v Sri Lanka, Eden Gardens, 16 Nov 2017
22. Afghanistan v West Indies, Lucknow, 27 Nov 2019
23. India v Bangladesh, Chennai, 19 Sep 2024
24. India v Bangladesh, Kanpur, 27 Sep 2024
The only other series that took place on Indian territory that saw a team choose to bowl first after winning the toss in several games was when India hosted three Test matches against Sri Lanka in 1997. The team that won the toss field first had done so in the first and third Tests of that series. But in a match marred by rain in Kanpur, India won the toss and elected to bat first in the second test.
The most amazing thing about the India-Bangladesh series is that no match has been played at any of the most common locations where teams have won the toss and bowled first in Test matches on Indian soil. The stadiums that have witnessed the most instances of a side winning the toss and fielding first in an Indian Test match are Mohali's PCA Stadium (5), Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium (5), and Kolkata's Eden Gardens (6). However, none of those three venues have hosted a match in this series.
In the history of Test matches, this series was just the second time a team had won the toss and elected to bowl first at both Chennai and Kanpur. For those who are unaware, Rohit Sharma won the coin in Kanpur and fielded first despite the possibility of rain. In the series opener, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first.
