It was total submission by the Black Caps. The whitewash was an accurate outcome because the visitors could never measure up to Virat Kohli and his boys. They may have had one or two sessions going in their favour. Ultimately, India got the better of them in every aspect of the game.
The pitches for this series were definitely better than what was dished out to the South Africans in the last home series. There were no dust-bowls this time. Rather, they were typical subcontinent wickets which opened up on days four and five, the exception being the one provided at Eden Gardens. It had everything for a good Test match and the Indians came out on top even there, on the basis of their superior ability.
In Indore, the Indian team established their supremacy in the first innings itself, based on the superlative double-hundred by Virat, supported by two brilliant hundreds from Rahane and Pujara. The stand between Virat and Rahane took the wind out of the visitors’ sails. Pujara had a good run in the series but he needed to convert starts into three figures because that is one thing he had been missing out on time and again. I hope this knock in the second innings will provide him that extra boost.
Above all, the Black Caps were done in by Ashwin. The spinner was ably aided by others but he really stood out. He has improved on his line a lot, added variety and is not holding back in trying out various things while bowling. I strongly hope that with Anil Kumble by his side, Ashwin will hold on to his form once he starts travelling after the 13 Test matches at home.
New Zealand basically just surrendered to the inevitable in their second innings and it looked like they just wanted to get the agony over and done with as soon as possible. The mace for supremacy in Test cricket was on view throughout the day. No doubt it will be with India for some time now.