Top 5 lowest totals against India in Test history ft. South Africa 2024

India suffered an embarrassing innings and 32-run defeat in the first Test in Centurion to have their dreams of an elusive Test series win in South Africa shattered.

With the series result and World Test Championship (WTC) points still on the line, India responded with a magnificent bowling performance in the first session of the second Test.

Despite losing the toss and bowling first, the visitors were up for the battle from ball one. They destroyed the Proteas for their lowest total since readmission of 55. The sensational bowling display has provided India a golden opportunity to walk away with a drawn series for only the second time in nine tours.

A much-improved and now feared Indian attack has been bowling opposition sides for paltry totals routinely in the past decade. The recent performance was just one of the many evidences of the often underrated Indian bowlers stepping up to the party in a crunch game.

On that note, let us see where the Cape Town performance lands in the five lowest totals against India in Test history.

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#5 82- Sri Lanka, Chandigarh, 1990

Venkatapathy Raju spun a web around the Lankan batters.

The only total on this list before the past decade is Sri Lanka's 82 all-out in a one-off Test in India in 1990.

On a turning wicket in Chandigarh, the visitors bowled India out for 290, with only former all-rounder Ravi Shastri scoring a half-century at 88 off 224 balls. In reply, the Lankan batters had no answers to former left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju.

His incredible figures of 6/12 helped India bowl Sri Lanka out for a dismal 82, with the spinner dismissing five batters for a duck.

With a lead of 208, India enforced the follow-on and bowled Sri Lanka out for 198 to complete the victory by an innings and eight runs. The second innings saw a more collective bowling effort, with Kapil Dev bagging four wickets, Manoj Prabhakar three, and Raju finishing with two.

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#4 81- England, Ahmedabad, 2021

England failed miserably to counter the Indian spinners in 2021.

The 2021 England tour of India is remembered for how the home spinners exploited the ineptness of the English batters against spin on turning tracks. While the strategy backfired when India was shocked in the opening game of the four-Test series in Chennai, the hosts returned the favor in the following game at the same venue.

With the series nodded at one apiece, the scene shifted to Ahmedabad for the day-night third Test. On arguably the hardest batting track of the series, England were blown away for 112 in their first innings, thanks to a six-wicket haul by Axar Patel.

In reply, even the Indian batters found the pitch impossible to combat to be bundled out for a mere 145. The difficulty for the batters was evident when part-time off-spinner Joe Root picked up a five-fer.

However, with the game finely poised, the Indian spinners shot out the English for 81 in 30.4 overs, requiring only 49 for victory. The openers completed the formalities as the hosts won by ten wickets to take a 2-1 series lead and eventually win the series 3-1.

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#3 79 - South Africa, Nagpur, 2015

Even the invincible South African batting could not come to grips with the Nagpur wicket.

Another square turner, another demolition act by the Indian spinners, was the story of the 2015 South African tour of India.

Despite coming into Indian soil with a proud unbeaten record in away Test series since 2006, the celebrated South African batting found the going too hot to handle against Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Amit Mishra.

After losing the first Test in Mohali, the Proteas escaped with a draw in a rain-marred second Test in Bangalore.

However, the Protea batters were found wanting with their technique against spin in a must-win outing on a tricky Nagpur wicket. The hosts scored only 215 in the first innings but dismissed the South Africans for a paltry 79 to capture a 136-run lead.

Ashwin was the chief wrecker with figures of 5/32, while Jadeja finished with an equally impressive 4/33.

There was no way out for the South Africans from that hole as India did just enough to set the visitors an improbable target of 310. South Africa fought defiantly but fell 124 runs short to have their unbeaten away streak broken, with Ashwin picking up seven wickets in the innings.

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#2 62 - New Zealand, Mumbai, 2021

New Zealand batters surrendered meekly in the series decider in 2021.

Following a dodged final wicket partnership to draw the first Test, New Zealand were buoyant entering the second and final Test in Mumbai in 2021.

A stunning 10-wicket haul by Ajaz Patel helped restrict India to 325 on a spinning wicket at the Wankhede Stadium. However, the smiles ended there for the Kiwis as their batters fell like nine pins to be dismissed for a horrendous 62 in 28.1 overs.

While Ashwin finished with figures of 4/8, Siraj started the procession with three wickets in his first spell.

India then piled on the misery by scoring 276/7 to set up a final innings target of 540 for the Blackcaps. The visitors had no answers and folded for 167 to lose the series 1-0.

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#1 55 - South Africa, Cape Town, 2024

India produced their best Test bowling performance to begin 2024.

The new year could not have begun any better for India, with the pacers destroying the South African batters with relentless swing and seam bowling in the ongoing Test in Cape Town.

Facing a must-win situation to level the two-match Test series, Mohammed Siraj took the onus on his shoulders by producing a magnificent opening spell. The 29-year-old picked up the third-best figures by an Indian in South Africa with 6/15 in nine overs to knock the hosts over for 55.

Unlike the previous four on this list, the performance on this occasion came on a seamer-friendly wicket, with the pacers doing the damage. Only two South African batters entered double figures as the hosts lost all ten wickets in the first session on the opening day.