New Zealand whitewash just another stepping stone in India's rise to pinnacle of Test career

Courtesy Twitter (@ICC)

New Delhi: Whatever the competition is, whatever the platform is, the one thing that separates a champion from the rest is the utter willingness to learn and continue the improvement no matter what the circumstances are.

The Indian Test team - who might well have clinched the No. 1 spot in ICC rankings in West Indies if the final test wasn't washed out due to rain – saw Pakistan hold the top place until New Zealand visited India.

India's journey started back in August 2015, when they visited Sri Lanka in a 3-match series.

Though India did not start off with the best results – the hosts won the opening match with 63 runs - Virat Kohli and Co. bounced back winning back to back matches in Colombo and claim the series 2-1.

India then welcomed South Africa in a 4-match series and the visitor's were expected to face a daunting task facing the Indian bowlers in exactly opposite conditions to what they were used to.

India secured the series 3-0 with massive margins of victory – 337 (1st Test), 124 (2nd Test), 108 (4th Test) – barring the third match which ended in a draw.

Ravichandran Ashwin was named the man of the series for picking up 31 wickets as a whole.

Ahead of the visit to the Caribbean where India were to face West Indies, a big change was brought in the Indian dressing room as the great Anil Kumble being named as the coach of Indian team.

The tweaks in strategy were obvious, but it hardly hampered India's performance as Kumble's men wrapped up the 4-match series 2-0 (one match drawn while one match was washed out due to rain).

The Tamil Nadu boy R Ashwin claimed another Man of the Series award with 17 wickets and two centuries to his name.

Kane Williamson's New Zealand were next to visit India as the hosts started preparation of a long home series.

Winning the Kanpur Test by 197 runs, Kolkata Test by 178 runs and Indore Test by a whooping 321-run margin, Virat Kohli's & Co. were hugely impressive as the Kiwis didn't look like getting the better of them even for a single moment in the whole series.

Ravichandran Ashwin was once again India's linchpin – picking up 27 wickets in total against the Kiwis.

India, officially, made it to the top of ICC Test rankings, dethroning arch rivals Pakistan – a feat that Virat Kohli & Co. are expected to hold on to for some time considering the long run of home season they are to play.

It isn't often that Indian side registers a clean sweep in Tests, it was only the 4th time they did it – 3-0 against England in 1993, 3-0 against Sri Lanka in 1994, 4-0 against Australia in 2013 and the current 3-0 against New Zealand in 2016 – when three or more matches were scheduled to be played in a series.