New Zealand handed India a shock Test series defeat at home by winning the first 2 Tests of the three-match series in Bengaluru and Pune. This meant that India lost a Test series at home for the first time since 2012 and the first-ever Test series loss to New Zealand at home.

This defeat also hurt India’s chances of qualifying for the WTC 2025 final, as despite being still no.1 in the points table, they are only 0.32 percentage points ahead of second-placed Australia.

New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batter, Tom Blundell took a huge jibe at the Indian team, saying that they had written the Kiwis off after their 2-0 Test series defeat to Sri Lanka. Blundell believes India was complacent in their approach against New Zealand, which was the catalyst for their losses to Kiwis.

“They’re a little bit shell-shocked. When we first came over, I think they had a slogan on TV saying five-nil for their home summer or something along those lines.

I’m pretty sure they wrote us off coming after Sri Lanka. But I think they’re pretty shocked in terms of what we’ve achieved, and how we’ve come out and competed and played some really good cricket to beat these guys – one of the best teams in the world,” Blundell told SENZ Mornings.

India had a massive shock in the first Test when they were bowled out for 46 in the first innings in Bengaluru. Even though the side produced a resounding comeback to score 462 in the second innings, Rohit Sharma and his team were unable to prevent an 8-wicket defeat.

India's batting troubles persisted in the second Test in Pune, with the team losing by 113 runs.

Blundell added that, while the team hopes to complete a clean sweep of India, the players will be able to leave with "a pretty big smile" regardless of the outcome of the final Test.

“You’ve got the World Test Championship still on the line, that’s something that motivates us as well. But it’s going to be a challenge. India is probably hurting from this. But regardless of the result, we can go home with a pretty big smile on our faces.

What we’ve achieved here is pretty immense, it’s probably one of the biggest highlights of my career. We’re excited. We’ve got a possibility of beating them 3-0. But regardless of that, we’re pretty chuffed,” Blundell added.

The third and final Test between India and New Zealand will begin on November 1 in Mumbai.

(Hindustan Times inputs)