In the immediate aftermath of the 113-run defeat to New Zealand in the Pune Test, which consigned India to their first home-series defeat in 12 years, Rohit Sharma has suggested that the main reason for the loss was the batters’ failure to get close to the visitors’ first-innings total of 259.
With Mitchell Santner taking 7 for 53 – which he would follow up with 6 for 104 in the second innings – India slumped to 156 all out in their first innings, conceding a lead of 103 that left them chasing the game for the remainder of the Test match. New Zealand set a target of 359, a monumental task on a track with variable turn, and despite a bright start courtesy a 65-ball 77 from Yashasvi Jaiswal, India eventually fell well short.
“I didn’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation. “Of course, if you want to win Test matches, you’ve got to take 20 wickets, yes, but batters have got to put runs on the board as well.
“We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings, and then we were behind in the game – 100 [103] runs lead to New Zealand, and then from there, obviously it was a great fightback from us to restrict them to 250-odd [255, in the second innings], but then again we knew it was going to be a little challenging, but we gave it our all.
“We came out thinking that we can chase that target, but again, the continuous pressure from both [ends] meant that we were not able to respond to those challenges.”
Given the nature of the pitch, there was a feeling that India had allowed New Zealand to score too many runs on day one of the Test, but Rohit felt his bowlers had done a good job to restrict them to 259.
“No, not really [too many runs],” he said. “To be honest, when they started off, they were 200-odd [197] for 3, and then for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. But again, I thought it wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough. Had we gotten closer to that score of first innings, things would have been slightly different, but again, New Zealand played better.”
With defeats in Bengaluru and Pune putting India 2-0 down, they go to the third Test in Mumbai under pressure to prevent their first-ever whitewash in a home series of three or more Tests. There is also the pressure of winning enough points in that Test match and the five-match series in Australia that follows to ensure India stay in the race for next year’s World Test Championship final, but for now Rohit said they were only focused on the immediate task in hand.
“We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that Test match,” he said. “Not thinking too far ahead. It’s important that we focus on our next game, what better we can do as a unit because it’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would just blame the batters or the bowlers. It’s the team that has failed to accept the challenge that was thrown at us, it’s as simple [as that]. We will come out with better intent, better ideas, and better methods at Wankhede.”
