Pune: Skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday said batters did not perform as well as was required in the two matches of Test series against New Zealand, which India lost, and that it’s too early to think of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Tom Latham’s New Zealand team made history by defeating Rohit’s side by 113 runs in the second Test match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday, clinching their first-ever series win in India.
This loss marks India’s first home Test series defeat since 2012, ending an 18-series winning streak–the longest home winning sequence for any team.
New Zealand now lead the three-match Test series 2-0, with the final game set for November 1 at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit said if team loses, everyone has to take the blame.
“It’s too early to think of WTC. I am hurt because we lost the game. I can’t think of what lies ahead and whether it affects our chances. There are things we need to do. If you lose a Test, it is because the collective unit failed. If you win, everyone deserves credit. If you lose, everyone needs to take the blame,” Rohit said after the match.
“We have won 18 series in a row at home. So we have done a good job. In this series, we didn’t bat as well as required. These things happen. We have scored on challenging wickets. I don’t want to dwell on these two poor Tests much. Two or three bad innings happen. What we wanted to do in this series with the bat didn’t work,” he added.
He said New Zealand batters executed their plans.
“Don’t want to do a post-mortem a lot. But yes, we want to trust our plan, our process, our method. The New Zealand batters showed that. We used to do that. So, yeah it happens,” he further said.
In the match, New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat. Half-centuries from Devon Conway (76 off 141 balls, with 11 fours) and Rachin Ravindra (65 off 105 balls, with five fours and a six) placed New Zealand in a commanding position at 197/3, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3/41) being the only bowler to make an early impact. After Conway’s dismissal, Washington Sundar (7/59) exploited the momentum, dismissing the remaining batsmen to bowl New Zealand out for 259.
India faced the task of overcoming this modest total to gain a substantial lead. However, after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal for a duck, youngsters Shubman Gill (30 off 72 balls, with two fours and a six) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (30 off 60 balls, with four boundaries) could only manage a partnership of 49 runs. Similar to the first innings, Gill’s dismissal opened the doors for Mitchell Santner, who wreaked havoc on the Indian lineup. Santner (7/53) and Glenn Phillips (2/26) bowled India out for just 156, with Ravindra Jadeja top-scoring with 38 off 46 balls (three fours and two sixes).
In their second innings, New Zealand capitalised on their 103-run lead. With a valuable 86 from skipper Tom Latham (133 balls, 10 fours), along with contributions from Phillips (48 off 82 balls, four boundaries, two sixes) and Tom Blundell (41 off 83 balls, three fours), the visitors set India a target of 359 runs, bowled out for 255 after impressive bowling in the first session of day three.
Sundar (4/56) led the attack, with Jadeja (3/72) and Ashwin (2/97) sweeping through the lower-middle order and tail.
Chasing 359, India started strongly with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who shared a 62-run partnership with Shubman Gill (23 off 31 balls, four boundaries). However, after Jaiswal’s dismissal for 77 off 65 balls (nine fours, three sixes), India couldn’t recover, succumbing to the Kiwi spinners and being bowled out for 245, resulting in a 113-run defeat. This series loss marks India’s first home series defeat in 12 years.
Santner, with a remarkable 13 wickets in the match (6/104 in the second innings), emerged as the star of the game, with Phillips and Ajaz Patel chipping in to wrap up the Test two days early.