Dhoni led India’s victorious cricketers returned home in batches in different cities on Thursday after their historic Test series triumph in New Zealand.

While charismatic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, man-of-the-series Gautam Gambhir, opener Virender Sehwag, pacer Ishant Sharma and spinner Amit Mishra landed at the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Sachin Tendulkar and four others – Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel and Dhawal Kulkarni – returned to a turbulent welcome in Mumbai.

Some members of the team’s support staff also landed in Mumbai along with Tendulkar and co.

The south-based cricketers, including Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, went directly to their respective cities.

Under Dhoni, India defeated New Zealand in their own backyard in a Test series for the first time since Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s team had outdone the Kiwis in 1967-68. Dhoni and his colleagues were greeted to a tumultuous welcome by a large number of fans who had gathered at the airport.

Sehwag was accompanied by his wife Aarti, while Ishant’s father, Vijay Sharma was there at the airport to receive his son.

Tendulkar thanked the countrymen soon after landing in Mumbai, saying the entire nation supported the team in its quest of creating history on Kiwi soil.

“It’s an achievement. Everyone is happy. The entire country has supported us. It was victory after 41 years,” the champion batsman told reporters at the Sahara airport.

Tags: Dravid, Indian Cricketer, Indian Team, Laxman, M.S.Dhoni, New Zealand, Sachin, Victorious Indian Team, Yuvraj, Zaheer

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Here are the stats giving you information about the number of test matches played between India and New Zealand in Kiwis’ soil and their results.

Year of Play	Matches	Result
1968	4	India Won by 3-1
1976	3	Draw 1-1
1981	3	New Zealand Won by 1-0
1990	3	New Zealand Won by 1-0
1994	1	Draw 0-0
1998-99	3	New Zealand Won by 1-0
2002	2	New Zealand Won by 2-0
2009	3	India Won by 1-0

Tags: Dhoni, Dravid, Gambir, Harbhajan Singh, India Vs New Zealand, Sachin, Zaheer

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Gautam Gambhir’s sixth Test hundred and second of the tour powered the Indian lead to 531 runs with five wickets intact against New Zealand at stumps on the third day at the Basin Reserve. Despite losing Rahul Dravid (60) and Sachin Tendulkar (9) in the second session, Gambhir and V V S Laxman carried on the onslaught before both fell for 167 and 61 respectively even as bad light stopped play.

Tags: Dravid, Gambir, Gautam Gambir, India, Sachin Tendulkar

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The Napier Test ended in a draw as India ended their second innings with 476/4 on the final day. The duo of Laxman and Yuvraj saw off the tumultuous weather to retain the visitors’ 1-0 lead over New Zealand in the three tests.

It was a Test that would be most remembered for the follow-on inflicted on the famed Indian batting with the Kiwis sounding the danger bells heading into the last match of the series.

New Zealand have found new heroes in the course of the Test in the double centurion Jesse Ryder and an equally potent Ross Taylor.

Laxman looked in his old class and notched up a fine fifty in the process. The morning had belonged to Gautam Gambhir whose grit paved way for India’s fightback after the enforcement of the follow-on. He was claimed by Jeetan Patel at a score of 137 runs after a momentary lapse of concentration after facing a whopping 436 balls.

India had put on a valiant resistance in post-lunch session, taking the scoreboard to 397 runs for four wickets at tea time.

Sachin Tendulkar also came in handy with a cautious 64 to save grace for the visitors after the first innings fiasco. He was done-in by a wily cherry by Chris Martin, but after his partnership with Gambhir had yielded ripe results.

Tags: Dravid, Gambir, India, Kiwis, Laxman, Napier, Napier Test, New Zealand, Sachin Tendulkar

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Gautam Gambhir has taken 398 minutes to complete his hundred, fifth slowest by an Indian in an away Test. Gambhir also became only the third Indian left-hander to complete 2,000 runs in Test cricket after Sourav Ganguly (7,212 runs in 113 Tests) and Ajit Wadekar (2,113 runs in 37 Tests). Gambhir became only the second Indian opener to score a hundred on New Zealand soil after Sunil Gavaskar, who made 116 at Auckland in 1975-76.

Rahul Dravid’s scoring-rate was 28.18(runs per 100 balls) during his innings of 62, the slowest he has batted in an innings of 50 or more. Rahul Dravid has hit a six in Test cricket after 22 months. He had last hit a six against Bangladesh at Dhaka in May 2007. 10 times Dravid has scored at least a fifty in both innings of a Test. He beats Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of making a fifty-plus score in both innings of a Test on most occasions.

India’s run-rate in the day was 2.27. They scored 205 runs in the 90 overs. India lost only 1 wicket in the full day’s play.

Tags: Dravid, Gambir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar

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