IND vs NZ: 5 ducks and a stunning 5-fer from Matt Henry saw India crumble to 46

What just happened? After losing a day due to rain, India just crumpled against New Zealand in the 1st Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This result was unexpected, especially after such a strong series win against Bangladesh. 

ALSO READ | IND vs NZ: Fans react as India struggles on Chinnaswamy pitch; 3 wickets down early

Just after lunch, the Men in Blue lost the remaining wickets getting them all out for just 46 runs. In fact, 5 batters were dismissed for ducks. The only other time 5 Indian batters were dismissed for a duck against New Zealand was in Mohali in 1999.

India registered their lowest-ever score in a home Test match. Interestingly, India managed to avoid their lowest Test totals of 36 against Australia in Adelaide and 42 against England at Lord's. However, they have now recorded their 3rd lowest total, as they could not surpass the 58 runs they scored against the Aussies.

Lowest totals in India in Tests
46 - IND vs NZ, Bengaluru, 2024*
62 - NZ v IND, Mumbai, 2021
75 - IND v WI, Delhi, 1987
76 - IND v SA, Ahmedabad, 2008
79 - SA v IND, Nagpur, 2015

Barring Yashasvi Jaiswal (13 off 63) and Rishabh Pant (20 off 49), the rest of the batters—Rohit Sharma (2 off 16), Virat Kohli (0 off 9), Sarfaraz Khan (0 off 3), KL Rahul (0 off 6), Ravindra Jadeja (0 off 6), Ravichandran Ashwin (0 off 1), Jasprit Bumrah (1 off 3), Kuldeep Yadav (2 off 17) and Mohammed Siraj (4* off 16)—all fell one after the other. 

Lowest totals for India in Tests
36 vs AUS, Adelaide, 2020
42 vs ENG, Lord's, 1974
46 vs NZ, Bengaluru, 2024*
58 vs AUS, Brisbane, 1947
58 vs ENG, Manchester, 1952

The wicket marked Kohli's 38th international duck, tying him with New Zealand’s Tim Southee for the most ducks among active cricketers.

The Kiwi bowlers surely enjoyed the conditions in Bengaluru, with Matt Henry picking up 5 wickets and also his 100th wicket in Test cricket. William O'Rourke took 4, and Tim Southee claimed 1. 

Fans at the stadium and on X (formerly known as Twitter) do not understand what is happening to the Indian team and are shell-shocked.

As for Shubman Gill, he was unavailable for selection for the first Test due to neck stiffness. India made two changes, bringing in Sarfaraz Khan for batting and adding Kuldeep Yadav as another spinner to their XI.

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj