'Lost for words in terms of what's happened over the last three weeks'

A few minutes past 1 PM on a hot Sunday afternoon, the sparse partisan crowd at the Wankhede stadium witnessed unprecedented scenes. Ajaz Patel knocked back Washington Sundar's stumps, prompting his teammates to converge on him within seconds to celebrate the kind of series win New Zealand had never experienced before. The moment capped off a surreal [nearly] three weeks for the visiting side, that became the first to inflict a 3-0 whitewash on India in their own den.

"I'm lost for words a little bit in terms of what's happened over the last three days, but also the last sort of three weeks," New Zealand captain Tom Latham said. "I guess if you asked me at the start of the tour whether I would have liked to be in this position... to be here now and play the cricket that we've played is really special and I'm really proud of the group."

New Zealand arrived in India with a bag of red flags. Their senior-most batter Kane Williamson was out for the first - and eventually all three - Tests due to an injury and Tim Southee had just relinquished captaincy in the aftermath of Test series humbling in Sri Lanka, including an innings where they were bundled out for 88. As far as initiations go, Latham couldn't have stepped in as permanent skipper of the side in a tougher tour on paper. But, with a collective effort, his team ripped up all the conventional wisdom that came with being a touring side in India in some style.

"I guess from my point of view, leading this group... It's always a really proud moment to lead New Zealand and I guess to come here and be my first time as full-time captain and to be in this position is really special," Latham said.

"But for me it's not about me, it's about the team and yeah the team has done the job. At the end of the day, everyone's chipped in when they need it and that's the beauty of a team sport. It's not going to be everyone's day on particular days but guys stand up when they need to. And guys stood up at certain times throughout this whole series which I'm really proud of," he added.

New Zealand's stronghold in the series began as early as the