By Admin 
The Indian team, which is preparing for the T20 World Cup 2026, has suffered a huge setback in Visakhapatnam. In the fourth T20 match, New Zealand not only made a comeback in the series by defeating India by a huge margin of 50 runs, but also raised questions on Team India’s home record. While chasing the huge target of 215 runs, the Indian batting seemed to completely collapse under the pressure and the team could score only 164 runs. This big defeat on home ground has also increased the tension of head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Record broken on home ground
This 50-run defeat became India’s second biggest T20 defeat on home soil. Earlier in 2025, South Africa had defeated India by 51 runs. The interesting thing is that New Zealand has given such a crushing blow many times on India’s home soil, which has made it clear that the Kiwi team has not been an easy opponent for India.
India’s biggest defeats by margin of runs on home ground
India vs South Africa (Mullanpur), 2025 – 51 runs
India vs New Zealand (Visakhapatnam), 2026 – 50 runs
India vs South Africa (Indore), 2022 – 49 runs
India vs New Zealand (Nagpur), 2016 – 47 runs
India vs New Zealand (Rajkot), 2017 – 40 runs
match status
New Zealand, batting first, openly attacked the Indian bowlers. India could not get wickets in the initial overs and the team failed to stop the runs in the last overs. The Kiwi batsmen showed no hesitation in playing big shots, due to which India faced a difficult target of 215 runs.
Top order again becomes weakness
India looked in trouble right from the beginning of the run chase. With early wickets falling, the pressure continued to increase. The stability that was expected from the experienced batsmen was not visible. The match seemed to be slipping out of India’s hands within the power play itself.
Shivam Dubey’s stormy effort
Amidst this disappointing performance, Shivam Dubey took charge alone. He breathed life into the match by scoring a half-century in just 15 balls. His aggressive batting raised hopes for some time, but due to lack of support from the other end, this effort could not convert into victory.
Question on Gambhir’s strategy
This defeat just before the World Cup has also sparked discussion about the strategies of head coach Gautam Gambhir. Now the need to rethink the batting order, death overs bowling and team balance is clearly visible.