Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra said India’s ODI series loss against New Zealand will and must hurt. New Zealand clinched the three-match series by 2-1 after winning the third and final game by 41 runs at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, on Sunday.

Chopra highlighted that visitors had eight players in the squad, who were touring India for the first time. The Kiwis didn’t have experienced players but they were able to bring their best. New Zealand recorded its first-ever series win in eight attempts and had to wait 37 years to achieve the feat.

“This loss is going to hurt and it must as well because New Zealand have done the double. They first came and defeated us in the Test series. Here they came with eight players who were touring India for the first time. Two were debutants – Kristian Clarke and Jayden Lennox. They would have won 3-0 had Harshit Rana not scored 29 runs and KL Rahul not won us the first game. Wake up and smell the coffee,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

Chopra admitted he had taken New Zealand lightly ahead of the series and thought India was too strong.

“This is not okay. You look for excuses for losses at times, maybe this and maybe that, but not like this, not against this team because it wasn’t even a full team. No opposing team should be taken lightly and I will put my hand up and say that I did that, or else I should say I had assumed my team was very good,” he observed.

The renowned commentator admitted the Kiwis won’t win the series as India were too potent for them.

“I felt our team is so good that the opposing team had no chance. I felt New Zealand might fight and compete but can’t win the series. I understand that a three-match series is short, but quality is quality, and if three-match series are so short, we wouldn’t have been winning for years,” Chopra stated.

India will next take on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series, starting Wednesday.