Biggest defeat for Team India in terms of run margin in the Test format. On November 26, at the Barsapara cricket stadium in Guwahati, South Africa outclassed India (IND vs SA) in all departments. With the win, the champion of the World Test Championship (WTC) cleansweeps the host nation by 2-0 in the 2-match Test series. South Africa won the Guwahati Test after getting victory in Kolkata in the first match of the series. 

In the second match, India was nowhere near winning the match. The best they could do in the second innings was to protect the wickets for a draw to avoid another whitewash in the format. The lackluster batting effort did not allow them to do that either. As a result, South Africa won the match by a whopping margin of 408 runs—the biggest defeat for India in the history of Test cricket. 

Before today's match result, India tasted the bitter back in 2004 when Australia hammered the home team by 342 runs in Nagpur. In 2006, against Pakistan in Karachi, India lost a Test match by 341 runs, which is now the third biggest defeat by runs in Tests, as the Nagpur Test is dropped down to the second spot and the India vs. South Africa Guwahati Test 2025 claimed the number one position in the list.

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Biggest defeat for India, record-making win for South Africa

The win by 408 runs against India in Guwahati is South Africa’s second biggest win by run margin in Tests and their biggest win by run margin in away Tests. But the biggest Test defeat by runs in the history of international cricket is owned by Australia. In 1938, at Brisbane, England defeated them by a shocking margin of 675. 

India’s biggest defeats (by runs) in Tests:

1) by 408 runs vs South Africa, 2025 in Guwahati
2) by 342 runs vs Australia, 2004 in Nagpur
3) by 341 runs vs Pakistan, 2006 in Karachi
4) by an innings and 336 runs vs West Indies, 1958 in Kolkata
5) by 333 runs vs Australia, 2017 in Pune