New Zealand and India, because of their colonial past share an incredible passion for the sport of cricket. Ever since India achieved its independence from the British, it started participating in bilateral test match series with New Zealand. The first of which was New Zealand’s tour of India during 1955/56. It was a landmark moment for post independence Indian cricket. Fortunately, that was only the start of a great rivalry and the teams have gone on to play many matches against each other. As newer formats of cricket were introduced, such as One Day International (ODI) and Twenty-Twenty International (T20I), the rivalry only intensified. With the introduction of coloured jerseys for the first time during the 1992 Cricket World Cup, the Indian team became the Men in Blue and the New Zealand team became the Black Caps. However, in this post, we will only be looking at IND vs NZ history in the all-white test cricket format. Let’s get started.
India vs New Zealand: The Complete Test Cricket History
New Zealand in India (1955/56)
1st Test at Fateh Maidan, Hyderabad, Deccan – Nov 19-24, 1955
2nd Test at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay – Dec 2-7, 1955
3rd Test at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi – Dec 16-21, 1955
4th Test at Eden Gardens, Calcutta – Dec 28, 1955 – Jan 2, 1956
5th Test at Corporation Stadium, Madras – Jan 6-11, 1956
Result: India 2, Drawn 3
New Zealand in India (1964/65)
1st Test at Corporation Stadium, Madras – Feb 27-Mar 2, 1965
2nd Test at Eden Gardens, Calcutta – Mar 5-8, 1965
3rd Test at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay – Mar 12-15, 1965
4th Test at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi – Mar 19-22, 1965
Result: India 1, Drawn 4
India in New Zealand (1967/68)
1st Test at Carisbrook, Dunedin – Feb 15-20, 1968
2nd Test at Lancaster Park, Christchurch – Feb 22-27, 1968
3rd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Feb 29-Mar 4, 1968
4th Test at Eden Park, Auckland – Mar 7-12, 1968
Result: India 3, New Zealand 1, Drawn 0
New Zealand in India (1969/70)
1st Test at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay – Sep 25-30, 1969
2nd Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur – Oct 3-8, 1969
3rd Test at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan – Oct 15-20, 1969,.
Result: India 1, New Zealand 1, Drawn 1
India in New Zealand (1975/76)
1st Test at Eden Park, Auckland – Jan 24-28, 1976
2nd Test at Lancaster Park, Christchurch – Feb 5-10, 1976
3rd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Feb 13-17, 1976
Result: India 1, New Zealand 1, Drawn 1
New Zealand in India (1976/77)
1st Test at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay – Nov 10-15, 1976
2nd Test at Green Park, Kanpur – Nov 18-23, 1976
3rd Test at Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk, Madras – Nov 26-Dec 2, 1976
Result: India 2, Drawn 1
India in New Zealand (1980/81)
1st Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Feb 21-25, 1981
2nd Test at Lancaster Park, Christchurch – Mar 6-11, 1981
3rd Test at Eden Park, Auckland – Mar 13-18, 1981
Result: New Zealand 1, Drawn 2
New Zealand in India (1988/89)
1st Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore – Nov 12-17, 1988
2nd Test at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay – Nov 24-29, 1988
3rd Test at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan – Dec 2-6, 1988
Result: India 2, New Zealand 1, Drawn 0
India in New Zealand (1989/90)
1st Test at Lancaster Park, Christchurch – Feb 2-5, 1990
2nd Test at McLean Park, Napier – Feb 9-13, 1990
3rd Test at Eden Park, Auckland – Feb 22-26, 1990
Result: New Zealand 1, Drawn 1
India in New Zealand Test Match (1993/94)
Only Test at Trust Bank Park, Hamilton – Mar 19-23, 1994 Match drawn (New Zealand 187 and 368/7d; India 246 and 177/3).
Result Drawn 1
New Zealand in India (1995/96)
1st Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore – Oct 18-20, 1995
2nd Test at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Madras – Oct 25-29, 1995
3rd Test at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack – Nov 8-12, 1995
Result: India 1, Drawn 2
India in New Zealand (1998/99)
1st Test at Carisbrook, Dunedin – Dec 18-22, 1998
2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Dec 26-30, 1998
3rd Test at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton – Jan 2-6, 1999
Result: New Zealand 1, Drawn 1
New Zealand in India (1999/2000)
1st Test at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh – Oct 10-14, 1999
2nd Test at Green Park, Kanpur – Oct 22-25, 1999
3rd Test at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad – Oct 29-Nov 2, 1999
Result: India 1, Drawn 2
India in New Zealand (2002/03)
1st Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Dec 12-14, 2002
2nd Test at Westpac Park, Hamilton – Dec 19-22, 2002
Result: New Zealand 2, Drawn 0
New Zealand in India (2003/04)
1st Test at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad – Oct 8-12, 2003
2nd Test at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh – Oct 16-20
Result: Drawn 2
India in New Zealand (2008/09)
1st Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton – March 18-21, 2009
2nd Test at McLean Park, Napier – March 26-30, 2009
3rd Test at Westpac Stadium, Wellington – April 03-07, 2009
Test Result India 1, Drawn 2
New Zealand in India (2010/2011)
1st Test at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad – Nov 04-08, 2010
2nd Test at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad – Nov 12-16, 2010
3rd Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur – Nov 20-23, 2010
Result: India 1, Drawn 2
New Zealand in India (2012)
1st Test at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad – Aug 23-26, 2012
2nd Test at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore – Aug 31-Sep 3, 2012
Result: India won 2-0.
India in New Zealand (2014)
1st Test at Eden Park, Auckland – Feb 6-9
2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington – Feb 14-18
Result New Zealand 1, Drawn 1
New Zealand in India (2016-17)
1st Test at Kanpur – Sept. 22-26, 2016
2nd Test at Kolkata – Sept 30-Oct 3, 2016
3rd Test at Indore – Oct 8-11, 2016
Result: India won the series 3-0
India in New Zealand (2019-20)
1st Test at Basin Reserve – Feb. 21-24, 2020
2nd Test at Hagley Oval – Feb 29-Mar 2, 2020
Result: New Zealand won the series 2-0.
This was also the last major bilateral test series before all matches were postponed because of the COVID-19 crisis.
So that was a brief summary of all the IND vs NZ test matches in history. As you might have noticed, it has been an evenly fought battle with the home team usually emerging victorious. The weather and pitch conditions are drastically different in the two countries with India usually having a hot climate with flat, batting friendly pitches and New Zealand being colder with bouncy pitches which favour fast bowlers. As a result of that, a lot of Indian batsmen (except Virender Sehwag) have struggled in New Zealand (even the great Sachin Tendulkar). The stark differences in the conditions always make for riveting encounters and will hopefully continue to give cricket fans more memorable moments in the future to come.