India start at an Australian stronghold

This time next week India would have begun another attempt to win their first Test series in Australia. Their opening game is at an Australian stronghold - the Melbourne Cricket Ground - where the hosts have won eight consecutive Tests since they beat India in 1999-2000. Since then, Australia have also brushed aside West Indies, South Africa, England and Pakistan, making their winning streak at the MCG the second longest at a particular venue.

For two decades after the Second World War, West Indies were hard to beat at the Kensington Oval in Barbados; they won four and drew 11 of the 15 Tests played there. "Hard to beat" soon became "impossible to draw against" as Clive Lloyd's team started a streak of 12 consecutive victories with a nine-wicket win against Australia in March 1978. Their dominance in Barbados ended in April 1994 when England triumphed by 208 runs, and since then West Indies' proud record at the Kensington Oval has deteriorated. Of their last 14 Tests at the venue, they have lost six, won five and drawn three.

India's recent victory against Pakistan in Delhi extended their winning streak at the Feroz Shah Kotla to seven. Most of those victories were set up by Anil Kumble, who has played six of those games and taken 55 wickets at 15.41 each. However, before they beat Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in 1993, India's record in Delhi was poor; they had lost five of their previous 11 Tests and won none.

Most consecutive wins at a ground - Tests

Team	Mat	Start Match	Scorecard	End Match	Scorecard
West Indies	12	Mar 17, 1978	Test 821	Apr 23, 1993	Test 1221
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Australia	8	Dec 26, 1999	Test 1479	Dec 26, 2006	Test 1824
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Australia	7	Mar 8, 1929	Test 180	Feb 26, 1937	Test 259
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Australia	7	Nov 29, 1946	Test 279	Dec 5, 1958	Test 460
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
South Africa	7	Jan 2, 1995	Test 1282	Jan 2, 2001	Test 1528
Newlands, Cape Town
India	7	Mar 13, 1993	Test 1218	Nov 22, 2007	Test 1849
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
England	6	Jul 12, 1956	Test 427	Jul 5, 1962	Test 532
Headingley, Leeds
Australia	6	Nov 8, 1902	Test 77	Dec 31, 1966	Test 613
Newlands, Cape Town
Australia	6	Nov 29, 1996	Test 1343	Jan 2, 2002	Test 1582
Sydney Cricket Ground
Sri Lanka	6	Aug 29, 2001	Test 1559	Dec 18, 2003	Test 1675
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo

It's rare for a visiting team to have a significantly better record than the home team at a particular venue - unless it's in Bangladesh or Zimbabwe - but England haven't beaten Australia at Lord's since June 1934. Australia's unbeaten streak at the ground has grown to 18 matches, of which they've won nine and drawn as many. England's longest undefeated stretch at Lord's is 13 Tests with four victories and nine draws. It began after the defeat against Australia in 1961 and ended with another loss to Australia in 1972.

Even the West Indian dominance at the Kensington Oval does not compare to Pakistan's record at the National Stadium in Karachi. They were unbeaten there for 45 years, during which they played 34 Tests, winning 17 and losing none, and for good measure they also won another Test in the city, at the Defence Stadium in 1993-94. England were the first team to beat Pakistan in Karachi, in 2001, and it was nearly another seven years before Pakistan were beaten there again, by South Africa in 2007.

Most consecutive matches without a loss at a ground - Tests

Team	Mat	Start Match	Scorecard	End Match	Scorecard
Pakistan	34	Feb 26, 1955	Test 400	Mar 12, 2000	Test 1489
National Stadium, Karachi
West Indies	27	Jan 21, 1948	Test 293	Apr 23, 1993	Test 1221
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
England	25	Jul 24, 1905	Test 86	Jul 22, 1954	Test 389
Old Trafford, Manchester
West Indies	19	Feb 26, 1958	Test 450	Apr 28, 1989	Test 1120
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Australia	19	Dec 8, 1989	Test 1131	Nov 8, 2007	Test 1845
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
England	18	Aug 11, 1884	Test 16	Aug 17, 1929	Test 185
Kennington Oval, London
New Zealand	18	Mar 7, 1969	Test 651	Mar 4, 1993	Test 1216
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Australia	18	Jun 24, 1938	Test 264	Jul 21, 2005	Test 1756
Lord's, London
West Indies	17	Mar 3, 1978	Test 819	Feb 5, 1998	Test 1398
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
England	16	May 29, 1902	Test 70	Jul 4, 1974	Test 741
Edgbaston, Birmingham

New Zealand have three home grounds in the top ten entries for longest streaks without a win at a venue. It took them 26 years and 45 Tests to record their maiden Test victory and it was during this period that New Zealand played the majority of their 11 and 10-match winless streaks at Christchurch and Wellington . However, their longest streak without success is at Auckland, the venue of their first Test victory, against West Indies in 1955-56. After that win they played 17 Tests at Eden Park, losing seven and drawing ten, before beating Australia in 1981-82.

Most consecutive matches without a win at a ground - Tests

Team	Mat	Start Match	Scorecard	End Match	Scorecard
New Zealand	17	Mar 14, 1959	Test 472	Mar 13, 1981	Test 899
Eden Park, Auckland
South Africa	15	Mar 11, 1910	Test 110	Dec 31, 1966	Test 613
Newlands, Cape Town
Australia	13	Aug 11, 1884	Test 16	Aug 14, 1926	Test 167
Kennington Oval, London
West Indies	12	Mar 28, 1968	Test 636	Mar 25, 1989	Test 1117
Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana
New Zealand	12	Jun 27, 1931	Test 209	Jun 16, 1994	Test 1261
Lord's, London
South Africa	12	Aug 19, 1907	Test 95	Sep 4, 2003	Test 1659
Kennington Oval, London
New Zealand	11	Jan 10, 1930	Test 186	Feb 25, 1966	Test 602
Jade Stadium, Christchurch
India	11	Dec 20, 1972	Test 703	Nov 25, 1987	Test 1080
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
New Zealand	10	Jan 24, 1930	Test 188	Feb 29, 1968	Test 632
Basin Reserve, Wellington
West Indies	10	Mar 26, 1965	Test 584	Apr 21, 1973	Test 721
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad

When West Indies finally broke their jinxed run at the MCG in 1979, they did so in emphatic fashion, winning by ten wickets and a day to spare. It came after seven consecutive defeats at the venue, which was the longest in terms of matches until Bangladesh equalled it in Chittagong. West Indies had come close to winning on two previous occasions at the MCG, but Australia prevailed by one wicket in 1951 and two wickets a decade later.

Most consecutive losses at a ground - Tests

Team	Mat	Start Match	Scorecard	End Match	Scorecard
West Indies	7	Feb 13, 1931	Test 205	Jan 31, 1976	Test 770
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Bangladesh	7	Nov 15, 2001	Test 1568	Dec 17, 2004	Test 1727
MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong
South Africa	6	Mar 25, 1889	Test 32	Mar 24, 1906	Test 91
Newlands, Cape Town
New Zealand	6	Mar 4, 1932	Test 218	Mar 1, 1963	Test 541
Basin Reserve, Wellington
India	6	Jun 25, 1932	Test 219	Jun 22, 1967	Test 619
Lord's, London
Bangladesh	6	Jan 9, 2002	Test 1584	Dec 10, 2004	Test 1725
Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka
Australia	5	Aug 12, 1886	Test 24	Aug 10, 1896	Test 52
Kennington Oval, London
England	5	Jan 11, 1895	Test 44	Jan 10, 1908	Test 98
Adelaide Oval
South Africa	5	Mar 12, 1889	Test 31	Mar 3, 1950	Test 322
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
India	5	Mar 10, 1976	Test 773	May 2, 2002	Test 1601
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados