The timeline between the India national cricket team and New Zealand national cricket team makes one of the most thrilling runs in sport world overall. It is a clash of counterpoint: a cricketing behemoth with more than a billion fans faces off against a small nation wrestling constantly above its weight. From their maiden Test match in Hyderabad in November 1955 to the T20 World Cup 2026 Final on March 8, 2026, the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline is also a tale of thrilling upsets, iconic series, and landmark individual performances punctuated by unforgettable moments in all three formats of the game.
India and New Zealand have played each other in 65 Tests, 123 ODIs, and 28 T20Is. India still holds the overall head-to-head in all formats, but the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline is far from a one-sided affair. New Zealand has provided India with some of the greatest shocks of modern Test history, none more shocking than the 3-0 Test whitewash in India, between October & November 2024, during which India was cleanswept on home soil for the first time.
This article has every major milestone in the timeline of the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team from the 1955 beginnings to the latest T20 World Cup 2026 Final between India and New Zealand. It has head-to-head records in all formats, complete series results, T20 World Cup 2026 information, important records, legendary players, and a comprehensive FAQ section.
Head-to-Head Records: India vs New Zealand (All Formats)
All India vs New Zealand head-to-head records across formats, latest updates as of March 2026:
| Format | Matches | India Wins | NZ Wins | Draws / NR / Tied |
| Test Cricket | 65 | 22 | 16 | 27 Draws |
| ODI Cricket | 123 | 63 | 52 | 1 Tied, 7 NR |
| T20 International | 28 | 17 | 10 | 1 NR |
| ICC Tournaments | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 NR |
| T20 World Cups | 8 | 5 | 3 | – |
However, India’s overall superiority in limited-overs cricket and New Zealand’s recent resurgence in Test cricket (especially the 3-0 defeat (for India) whitewash in 2024), make the rivalry much tighter and competitive than what the headline number suggests.
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India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team – Full Timeline
This is a timeline of the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team. To read about the individual matches, see India vs New Zealand cricket series Head-to-head records.
| Year | Series / Event | Format | Result |
| 1955 | New Zealand’s first tour to India | Test | India won 2-0 (3 draws) |
| 1967–68 | India tour NZ first time India wins in NZ | Test | India won 3-1 |
| 1975 | The first ODI between the two nations in the World Cup | ODI | NZ won by 4 wkts (Manchester) |
| 1976 | India tour NZ competitive series | Test | Drawn 1-1 |
| 1980 | NZ’s Richard Hadlee dominates India | Test | NZ won 1-0 in India |
| 1988–89 | NZ’s last Test win in India before 2024 | Test | NZ won 1-0 |
| 1994–95 | India whitewash NZ at home | Test | India won 3-0 |
| 1999–00 | NZ tour India – India win series | Test | India won 1-0 |
| 2002–03 | NZ tour India – India win series | Test | India won 2-0 |
| 2007 | First T20I between nations – ICC WT20 | T20I | NZ won by 10 runs (Johannesburg) |
| 2008–09 | India tour NZ | Test | India won 1-0 |
| 2010 | India lost ODIs to NZ in the Sri Lanka tri-series | ODI | NZ won |
| 2012 | India tour NZ – India win Test series | Test | India won 1-0 |
| 2016 | India whitewash NZ in ODIs (3-0) at home | ODI | India won 3-0 |
| 2019–20 | India whitewash NZ in T20Is at home (5-0) | T20I | India won 5-0 |
| 2020 | NZ whitewash India in Tests (2-0) in NZ | Test | NZ won 2-0 |
| 2021 | NZ beat India in WTC Final | Test | NZ won by 8 wkts (Southampton) |
| 2021–22 | India beat NZ in home Tests | Test | India won 1-0 |
| 2023 | ODI World Cup – India beat NZ in semi-final | ODI | India won by 70 runs |
| 2024 | NZ historic 3-0 whitewash in India | Test | NZ won 3-0 (India’s 1st home whitewash) |
| Jan 2026 | NZ tour India – ODI & T20I series | T20I/ODI | India won the T20I series 3-0 (with a 5-match series) |
| Mar 2026 | T20 World Cup 2026 Final – Ahmedabad | T20I | India won by 96 runs – India T20 WC champions |
Era-by-Era Breakdown
1955–1975: The Early Years
Timeline of India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team matches, starting on 19 November 1955 at Fateh Maidan, Hyderabad. It was New Zealand’s first tour of India, and the five-match Test series concluded with India winning 2–0, with three draws. India’s batting, led by Vijay Hazare and Polly Umrigar, proved far too powerful for the junior New Zealand side, which was still in the early stages of building a cricketing infrastructure. The first Test ended in a draw, but India conquered the second with an innings and 27 runs in Bombay.
India visited New Zealand in 1967-68 and succeeded in their first series victory across the Tasman, a 3-1 result that emphasised India’s growing strength in Test cricket under Tiger Pataudi. India and New Zealand’s paths did not cross in an ODI until the 1975 Prudential World Cup in England, when India lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets at Old Trafford, Manchester, the two countries’ very first limited-overs international.
1975–2000: Building the Rivalry
From the late-1970s to 1990, the Test landscape was dominated by two giant personalities, Richard Hadlee for New Zealand and Kapil Dev for India. The combination of speed and movement made Hadlee a constant threat against Indian batters. He helped New Zealand to a historic Test series win in India in 1980, which remains one of only a handful of touring victories by the national team from that era. India then dealt with home series victories throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, with the best being a home Test series whitewash over New Zealand in 1994-95 by a margin of 3-0.
It was during this phase that Tendulkar started his onslaught of Run scoring against New Zealand. In all, Tendulkar ended up with 1,750 runs from 42 ODIs against New Zealand, the highest ever by any Indian batter against this opponent. Javagal Srinath, India’s leading fast bowler in this phase, was just as furious with the ODI ball against New Zealand, claiming 51 wickets from 30 matches most by any pacer from India in this bilateral rivalry.
2000–2015: World Cup Drama and Home Dominance
Dominance at Home (2000-2008) The 2000s started with India enjoying crushing dominance over New Zealand in terms of home Tests and ODIs, although the occasional away performance from New Zealand would help spice things up. India won the Test series in 2002-03 (2-0), 2008-09 in New Zealand (1-0), and 2012 in New Zealand (1-0). Among the last-generation teams, New Zealand had also achieved a major milestone in 2010, when they won a two-match Test series on home soil 2-0 against an imposing Indian team comprising MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag.
And yet another chapter was added to this rivalry during the 2021 ICC World Test Championship Final in Southampton. New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets to become the first WTC titleholder in a match shortened to six days due to rain. Outstanding was Kyle Jamieson 5/31 in the first stake. It was a painful defeat for Indian fans, who appreciate the high standard of New Zealand’s cricketing system despite its tiny population.
The two nations have exchanged wins in ODI World Cups. India beat New Zealand by 70 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup semis in Mumbai, a one-sided affair that saw India into the final on home turf (where they lost to Australia). In all ICC ODI World Cup matches, the head-to-head between India and New Zealand is an exact tie at 5-5.
2024: New Zealand’s Historic 3-0 Test Whitewash in India
India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team | The most significant upset in Indian history took place during October-November 2024. New Zealand, led by the captain Tom Latham, inflicted a historic 3-0 whitewash on India in a Test series on Indian home soil. To date, there has never been that kind of result against India at home, and their first series defeat since England in 2012.
The 1st Test in Bengaluru proved to be even more shocking as India faltered for their third-lowest ever Test innings score of just 46 at one point and set a target of only 107 runs for New Zealand, who chased it down losing only 2 wickets. For years, the southwest has been a scourge to southern teams, particularly on home soil, and that was reaffirmed in spades by Mitchell Santner, who bagged 6 first innings scalps with his left-arm spin before returning best figures of any match (13) as well as career-best overall during the second Test in Pune. In doing so, New Zealand bagged 36 WTC points while improving their chances of a spot in the WTC Final.
2024 Test Series – New Zealand’s Historic Whitewash in India
Here is the match-by-match breakdown of the most significant series in the recent India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline history.
| Test | Venue | Score | Winner | Key Performer |
| 1st Test | Bengaluru | IND 46 & 462 / NZ 402 & 110/2 | NZ by 8 wkts | Mitchell Santner 6/35 & Tom Latham 86 |
| 2nd Test | Pune | NZ 259 & 255 / IND 156 & 245 | NZ by 113 runs | Mitchell Santner 13 wkts in a match |
| 3rd Test | Mumbai | IND 263 & 121 / NZ 235 & 147/3 | NZ by 25 runs | Matt Henry 5/47; NZ complete historic 3-0 |
January 2026: New Zealand Tour of India – ODIs and T20Is
2026 Visit by New Zealand to India: 3-match ODI series, then 5-match T20I Series. That ODI series concluded with a stunning turnaround. New Zealand won all three ODIs 3-0, confirming the tourists had not lost that collective confidence from the Test series in 2024. Note: However, the T20I series saw India dominate, as they scooped up a hat-trick of wins in 3 matches to take out victory by a score of 3-0 before both sides shifted gears towards preparing for the T20 World Cup 2026.
| Match | Venue | Date | Result |
| 1st ODI | Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Stadium, Hyderabad | Jan 8, 2026 | NZ won by 41 runs |
| 2nd ODI | Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore | Jan 12, 2026 | NZ won by 21 runs |
| 3rd ODI | Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore | Jan 18, 2026 | NZ won by 41 runs (NZ win series 3-0) |
| 1st T20I | Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Stadium, Hyderabad | Jan 20, 2026 | India won by 6 wkts |
| 2nd T20I | Saurashtra Cricket Assn. Stadium, Rajkot | Jan 22, 2026 | India won by 7 wkts |
| 3rd T20I | Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati | Jan 25, 2026 | India won by 8 wkts (India lead 3-0) |
T20 World Cup 2026 – India vs New Zealand in the Final
To that retrospective end, the last and most hallowed chapter in the history of the India national cricket team meeting the New Zealand national cricket team materialised on March 8, 2026, at the T20 World Cup 2026 Final hosted by Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, with a record audience of 86,824. And India, the hosts and tournament favorites, up against New Zealand cricket’s nearly men, who were playing in their fifth ICC final since 2015 but had yet to win a trophy.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson added 92 for the first wicket in the powerplay, which is the highest powerplay score in a T20 World Cup final. Abhishek Sharma, flying at the other end, brought up his fifty in just 18 balls fastest ever in a T20 World Cup knockout game. Player of the tournament Tanji Samson scored a high-class 89 in just 45 balls. Ishan Kishan made 54, which took India to 255/5, a total that had no chance of being chased down by New Zealand.
Among the chase, Jasprit Bumrah was unplayable. His incisive figures of 4/15 wreaked havoc on New Zealand’s batting order. Tim Seifert made the top score of 52 and Mitchell Santner batted hard for his 43, but New Zealand were bowled out for159 to lose by96 runs. India completed a third T20 World Cup, their second on the trot, after winning in 2024. The captain of India, Suryakumar Yadav, became the first player in T20 World Cup history to defend a title
T20 World Cup 2026 Final – India vs New Zealand Scorecard
| Detail | India | New Zealand |
| Score | 255/5 (20 overs) | 159 all out (19.1 overs) |
| Key Batters | Samson 89, Kishan 54, Abhishek 52 | Seifert 52, Santner 43 |
| Key Bowlers | Bumrah 4/15, Axar 3/27 | Neesham 3/46 |
| Powerplay Score | 92/0 (6 overs) | — |
| Result | Won by 96 runs | Lost by 96 runs |
| Player of the Tournament | Jasprit Bumrah | – |
| Player of Tournament | Sanju Samson (321 runs, SR 199.37) | – |
| Venue | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | Attendance: 86,824 |
| Date | March 8, 2026 | India’s 3rd T20 WC title, 2nd in a row |
India vs New Zealand in T20 World Cups – All Results
| Tournament | Year | Stage | Winner | Margin |
| ICC WT20 2007 | 2007 | Group Stage | New Zealand | NZ won by 10 runs |
| ICC WT20 2010 | 2010 | Super 8 | India | India won by 8 wkts |
| ICC T20 WC 2012 | 2012 | Super 8 | India | India won by 5 wkts |
| ICC T20 WC 2016 | 2016 | Group Stage | India | India won by 47 runs |
| ICC T20 WC 2021 | 2021 | Group Stage | New Zealand | NZ won by 8 wkts |
| ICC T20 WC 2022 | 2022 | Semi-Final | India | India won by 6 wkts |
| ICC T20 WC 2024 | 2024 | Group Stage | India | India won by 45 runs |
| ICC T20 WC 2026 Final | 2026 | Final | India | India won by 96 runs |
In the T20 World Cup meetings so far, India holds the edge against New Zealand 5-3. With the 2026 Final being their first knockout final in a T20 World Cup, India also brought home with them the most comprehensive win ever recorded between the two nations in any of their T20 World Cup meetings, winning by 96 runs.
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Records in the India vs New Zealand Cricket Rivalry
| Record | Detail | Player / Team |
| Most Test runs (India vs NZ) | 1195 runs | Sunil Gavaskar (IND) |
| Most Test runs (NZ vs India) | Over 900 runs | Ross Taylor (NZ) |
| Most ODI runs (India vs NZ) | 1750 runs in 42 matches | Sachin Tendulkar (IND) |
| Most ODI wickets (India vs NZ) | 51 wickets in 30 ODIs | Javagal Srinath (IND) |
| Most ODI wickets (NZ vs India) | 32 wickets | Kyle Mills (NZ) |
| Highest ODI score by India vs NZ | 397/4, Hamilton 2009 | India |
| Highest ODI score by NZ vs India | 327, Dharamsala 2016 | New Zealand |
| Best bowling in ODI (NZ vs IND) | 6/19, Dambulla 2010 | Shane Bond (NZ) |
| Best bowling in ODI (IND vs NZ) | 5/18, Visakhap. 2016 | Amit Mishra (IND) |
| Best T20 WC Final performance | 89(45), 4/15 – Final 2026 | Samson & Bumrah (IND) |
| First T20I century (IND vs NZ) | 100* vs NZ, Ranchi 2017 | Rohit Sharma (IND) |
| Biggest Test win (IND vs NZ) | Innings & 109 runs, 1955 | India (Madras) |
Legendary Players in the India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline
Both countries have produced iconic players who have defined this rivalry through the years. These are the most important people in the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline.
| Player | Country | Era | Contribution vs Rival |
| Sunil Gavaskar | India | 1971–87 | 1195 Test runs; dominant against NZ in India |
| Kapil Dev | India | 1978–94 | 175 wickets + crucial runs vs NZ in Tests & WC |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 1989–13 | 1750 ODI runs vs NZ; 5 centuries; most matches |
| Javagal Srinath | India | 1991–02 | 51 ODI wickets vs NZ, most by any Indian vs NZ |
| Richard Hadlee | New Zealand | 1973–90 | Dominated India in 1980 series; 5-wkts multiple times |
| Martin Crowe | New Zealand | 1982–95 | Consistent against India; 3 Test centuries |
| Stephen Fleming | New Zealand | 1994–08 | Most NZ ODI wins vs India (28) as captain |
| Ross Taylor | New Zealand | 2006–22 | 900+ Test runs vs India; destructive in ODIs |
| MS Dhoni | India | 2004–20 | Multiple T20I & ODI series wins vs NZ; WTC Final loss |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 2007–24 | First T20I 100* vs NZ; led India in 2024 T20 WC win |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 2016–26 | PoM in T20 WC 2026 Final vs NZ; 4/15 |
| Mitchell Santner | New Zealand | 2015–26 | Historic 13 wkts in 2024 Test series; WC Final 43 |
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – India vs New Zealand Cricket Timeline
When did the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline start?
The rivalry has its origins in the first Test match played between these two sides at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (then Hyderabad Deccan) in November 1955. The match ended in a draw. The two sides have played 65 Tests, 123 ODIs, and 28 T20Is since then.
What is the overall head-to-head between India and New Zealand?
In Tests, India leads 22–16 after 27 drawn matches. In ODI cricket, India leads 63–52, including one tied match. The T20I head-to-head record between India and Pakistan is 17–10 in favor of the Indians, who have been dominant in limited-overs matches recently.
India vs New Zealand, T20 World Cup 2026 Final Highlights
March 8, 2026: India hosts the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final at Narendra Modi Stadium. India or New Zealand were bowled out for 159 and scored 255/5 respectively, then India won the match with a 96-run margin. Bumrah was also named Player of the Match following figures of 4/15.
When did New Zealand last whitewash India in a Test series?
In October – November 2024, New Zealand completed a Test series whitewash over India with a 3–0 victory. It was also India’s first-ever home Test series sweep and their first loss at home since 2012. Mitchell Santner was the standout, taking 13 wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Test.
What is the outcome of the India vs New Zealand series in January 2026?
The ODI series in India was won by New Zealand 3–0 in January 2026. But India fought back hard in the T20I series to go 3–0 up with the matches held in Hyderabad, Rajkot, and Guwahati. The remaining matches were held as part of the build-up for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Most ODI Runs For India v New Zealand: Who Has Scored Most?
The most ODI runs by an Indian against New Zealand are scored by Sachin Tendulkar, who made 1,750 in 42 matches (five centuries). He also featured in the most ODIs (42) for India against New Zealand.
Conclusion: India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline
The timeline of the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team from 1955 to 2026 is indeed a tale of one of sports’ most electrifying rivalries. It is a rivalry characterized by India’s continued overall supremacy in limited-overs cricket and New Zealand’s knack for delivering historic upsets, most notably the 3-0 Test whitewash of India at home in 2024, one of the great results in the history of cricket.
The glitziest chapter was penned last on March 8, 2026: India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in Ahmedabad to win their third T20 World Cup and second in a row with Jasprit Bumrah (4/15) and Sanju Samson (89, Player of the Tournament) serving up a performance that will be remembered for generations.
For New Zealand, the road has led to five ICC finals since 2015, and this is still to win one. The win of the T20 World Cup 2026 Final is the penultimate achievement in white-ball cricket for India. With the India national cricket team vs New Zealand national cricket team timeline continuing to get written, both countries will be aiming to pen down their next memorable episode whenever they clash again.
