India claimed its first Test series victory in New Zealand since Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's team in 1968 after rain forced a draw in the third Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
A look at the Indian team's previous tours of New Zealand:
1967-68
Matches: 4, India won 3, New Zealand won 1, Drawn 0
Captain: Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
India registered its first series win outside India thanks to the team's all-round showing and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's astute captaincy. Only once an Indian batsman attained the three-figure mark in the four-match series, but there were 10 fifties scored by the Indians. More importantly, each of the top-order batsmen made useful contributions, aggregating at least 200 runs in the series, with Ajit Wadekar (328 runs in 8 innings) the top-scorer.
On the bowling front, Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi and Bapoo Nadkarni accounted for 54 wickets out of the 69 claimed by the Indian bowlers. Prasanna was the wrecker-in-chief with 24 wickets, at an average of 18.79.
The series was the first in which India registered three wins.
Top Indian batsmen in the series:
| Batsman | M | Runs | Hs | Ave | 100s | 50s |
| AL Wadekar | 4 | 328 | 143 | 46.86 | 1 | 2 |
| FM Engineer | 4 | 321 | 63 | 40.13 | 0 | 2 |
| RF Surti | 4 | 321 | 99 | 45.86 | 0 | 2 |
| CG Borde | 4 | 242 | 65* | 48.40 | 0 | 2 |
| Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi | 4 | 221 | 52 | 31.57 | 0 | 2 |
Top Indian bowlers in the series:
| Bowler | Mts | Wkts | Best | Avg | SR | 5WI | 10WM |
| EAS Prasanna | 4 | 24 | 6-94 | 18.79 | 49.46 | 2 | 0 |
| BS Bedi | 4 | 16 | 6-127 | 23.19 | 66.06 | 1 | 0 |
| RG Nadkarni | 4 | 14 | 6-43 | 17.93 | 79.50 | 1 | 0 |
| RF Surti | 4 | 7 | 3-44 | 37.00 | 76.00 | 0 | 0 |
| S Abid Ali | 4 | 6 | 4-26 | 22.00 | 63.00 | 0 | 0 |
Statistics: Rajneesh Gupta
Photograph: India Abroad Archives
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