Indian captain Rohit Sharma gave credit to New Zealand after the hosts lost the second Test match by 113 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Saturday. With it, New Zealand won their maiden Test series on Indian soil as they took an impregnable lead of 2-0 in the three-match Test series.
The Kiwis dominated the first two Test matches and deserve all the accolades for their fine show. Meanwhile, India was bundled out for 245 in the second innings while chasing 359 runs.
The hosts conceded a huge lead of 103 runs in the first innings and from there on, they were always chasing the game. The Rohit Sharma-led team was bowled out for 156 runs in the first innings and their batting led to their downfall as frequent collapses have become a headache.
India had won their last 18 consecutive Test series at home and they suffered their first Test series loss in home conditions after a dozen years.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “Disappointing. It’s not what we expected. Got to give credit to NZ – they played better than us. We failed to capitalise on certain moments. We failed to respond to those challenges. And we sit here with that result today. Didn’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. If you want to win Test matches you’ve got to take 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board as well. Didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings. Then we were behind in the game – 100 runs lead to NZ. Was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd but we knew it was going to be challenging. We gave it our all. We came out thinking we can chase that target but the continuous pressure from both sides meant we were not able to respond to those challenges.”
He added, “When they started off, they were 200/3 and for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. It wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough. Things would’ve been slightly different had we got a bit closer in the first innings. We want to show up well at Wankhede and try to win that test. Not thinking too far ahead. Important we focus on that next game. What better we can do as a unit.It’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers. It’s the team that has failed to accept the challenge that was thrown at us. We will come out with better intent, better ideas and better methods at Wankhede.”
The third and final Test match between India and New Zealand will be played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai from November 1 onwards.
