Story ProgressBack to home
Indian sweep ends string of defeats
It has been a long time since India clinched a One Day series at home.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:53 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Pune: It has been a long time since India clinched a One Day series at home. The four-wicket win against Sri Lanka in Pune on Thursday ended three years of draws and defeats at the hands of West Indies, Australia and Pakistan. Earlier, Dinesh Mongia's heroics in Guwahati against Zimbabwe with his match-winning knock of 159 took India to a 3-2 series win against the visitors. That was the last time India won a one-day series on home soil. A few weeks before that, India took a 3-1 lead against England in a 6 match series but Andrew Flintoff's heroics ensured a 3-3 draw. India may be tigers at home when it comes to tests with only two series defeats in the last 10 years, but have faltered in the shorter version of the game. The series win against Sri Lanka was the first at home since March 2002. Prior to this the Indians lost to Pakistan in March and before that, back to back one day series to Australia and the West Indies. The Pakistan series though should have been India's as they comprehensively wrapped up the first two games in Kochi and Vizag after 3 blistering 100's from Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni. But from there it all went horribly wrong for India as Pakistan sealed the series with a 159 run win in the 6th & final ODI in Delhi. But that's not to say that India's overseas performance has been much better. Since the 2003 World Cup, India have won two ODI series - that was in Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2004, but apart from that its been defeats in places like Australia, Sri Lanka, Holland and England. With India not travelling abroad till next year and with eight matches still left to play at home against Sri Lanka and then South Africa - team India is no doubt on a high. The new found form at home is something they would like to take to Pakistan in January 2006.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Sreesanth
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.