It was one bad decision, and hopefully, it doesn't cost us much," said India skipper Rohit Sharma after a batting collapse saw India bowled out for a paltry 46 runs to hand New Zealand an historic win over the hosts in the first Test here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It is the lowest score made by India on home soil and the third-lowest in Test cricket history.
Speaking after the second day's play, Rohit reflected on the decision to bat first under overcast conditions, a call that backfired disastrously for the hosts. "We thought it wouldn't help the seamers much after the first session or so. There wasn't much grass either. We expected it to be much flatter than it turned out to be. It was a misjudgment on my part, and I couldn't read the pitch well. I am hurting to see this score of 46 as a captain as it was my call to bat first. But one or two bad calls in a year is quite alright," Rohit admitted.
This collapse came just days after India had celebrated winning the Test series against Bangladesh in Kanpur, making the rapid downfall more shocking. Choosing to bat on a pitch that has been covered owing to the recent rains, India faced a devastating assault from New Zealand pacers, led by William O'Rourke and Matt Henry. With Tim Southee giving the party a head start early in dismissing Rohit Sharma, India never staged a comeback from there. Five Indian batsmen here, also including Kohli, got ducks, which indeed emphasizes the extent of the meltdown.
"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, he added.
New Zealand, who arrived in India after being whitewashed 2-0 by Sri Lanka, took advantage of the damp conditions of the pitch. The Indian side, playing at its most confident going into the series only seemed to struggle as the conditions there would actually end up favouring seam more than spin bowling. They were also caught on the wrong foot for playing three spinners and only two pacers.
The Indian management's decision to push Kohli to bat at number three did not pay off either. While discussing the match with the team after the game, Kohli accepted the responsibility and got himself bowled for a duck. Batting at number four, Sarfaraz Khan was another victim of the same duplicity as he departed for a very cheap price. KL Rahul batted at number six and being accustomed to local conditions, could not capitalise on the opportunity and departed without opening his account.
We did not want to play much with KL's batting position. He has made himself comfortable at 6, let us let him carry on over there. Likewise in the case of Sarfaraz, as he is new to international cricket also, wanted to provide him with a similar position from where he bats. So it was Virat who was looking for responsibility. I had a word with him, and he wasn't too objecting to that. That is a good sign that the players are taking responsibility, Rohit said.
New Zealand, on the other hand, capitalized on the opportunity. Chasing India for a miserable total, the visitors closed day two at 180 for 3, leading by 134 runs. The standout among the visitors was Devon Conway, who reached 91 runs, while Will Young could do only just 33. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja picked one scalp each, but India face an uphill task to recover from the nightmare start in the series opener.
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