It was a historic day in Chennai on Day 4 of the first Test against Bangladesh as the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team defeated the visitors by 280 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The win was a confidence booster for the Gautam Gambhir-coached side and the occasion became all the more special with a historic feat that the Indian team achieved.
For the first time in the history of the Indian cricket team, the side has more victories than losses in the red-ball format. In total, India has played 580 Test matches till date, and they finally picked up the elusive 179th win the format, going past the record of 178 losses in red-ball cricket.
The record 179th victory came as Bangladesh folded for 234 runs while chasing a target of 515 runs. The Indian team became only the seventh side in world cricket to have more wins than losses in Test cricket history.
Australia achieved the feat in their inaugural Test, while Afghanistan recorded this milestone in their third Test. Pakistan needed 16 Test matches to have picked up more wins than losses, while England reached the milestone in their 23rd Test. West Indies (99th), and South Africa (340th) achieved the historic feat before the Indian team, while the likes of New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Ireland are yet to claim the record.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the architect-in-chief of the victory in Chennai, on his home ground after he slammed a century in the first innings and picked up a six-wicket haul as well. Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill were also impressive having slammed a century each in the second innings.
The latest win helps India cement their position at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 standings, with 71.67 PCT and 86 points from 10 matches. Rohit Sharma’s men will hope to inflict a clean sweep on Bangladesh in the second Test in Kanpur as BCCI named an unchanged squad for the series finale.