NEW DELHI: After India’s dismal batting collapse on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru, captain Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment, saying it was painful to witness such a low score.
Rohit also acknowledged that his decision to bat first may have backfired, but he emphasized that a rare poor call in a year is acceptable.
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“I am hurting to see this score of 46 as captain as it was my call to bat first.But one or two bad calls in a year is alright,” Rohit said after the day’s play.
India collapsed to their lowest home Test total of 46 against New Zealand after pacers Matt Henry and William O’Rourke joined forces to bowl out the hosts in mere 31.2 overs during the second session.
This was India’s third-lowest score in Test cricket, following their 36 all-out against Australia in the 2020 pink-ball Test in Adelaide and 42 all-out against England at Lord’s in 1974.
India’s previous lowest score at home was 62, also against New Zealand at Mumbai in 2021.
Riding on opener Devon Conway‘s 91, New Zealand powered into a lead of 134 at stumps on a dramatic day two in Bengaluru.
New Zealand were 180-3 at close of play with Rachin Ravindra on 22 and Daryl Mitchell on 14 when stumps were drawn in an extended session.
“On a pitch where there was assistance for the seamers, and now that we were bowled out for 46, you could say the shot selection wasn’t up to the mark. It was a bad day. Sometimes you plan to do something but fail to execute,” the Indian skipper added.
India’s decision to promote Virat Kohli to the number three spot did not pay off, as he was dismissed for a duck after taking on the responsibility following discussions with the team.
Sarfaraz Khan, batting at number four, also fell cheaply, while KL Rahul, who was at number six, failed to capitalize on his familiarity with the local conditions and was dismissed without scoring.
“We don’t want to touch KL’s batting position much. He has found a place at 6, so let’s give him a rope there. Same with Sarfaraz, we wanted to give him a similar position to where he bats because he is new to international cricket as well. So Virat was the one who wanted to take responsibility. We had a discussion, and he was fine with it. That’s a good sign that players are taking responsibility,” Rohit said.
