Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played their worst Test series at home against New Zealand. (BCCI)
India needed their two superstars to make a contribution on a tricky pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in the run-chase but instead Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply in the second innings on Sunday.
After starting the innings with a couple of aggressive (yet streaky) boundaries, Rohit went for a pickup shot over midwicket that barely cleared the in-field and was out caught by Glenn Phillipps off Matt Henry, for 11. Ian Smith on air used words like “rash”, “outrageous” and “needless” to describe the Indian captain’s dismissal.
Then coming into bat at No 4, Virat yet again succumbed to left-arm spin. Granted, this was a more difficult delivery to play. But it doesn’t change the fact that the former India captain has been struggling to deal with the left-arm finger-spinners in recent times. The ball pitched around the leg stump, turned sharply and got the outside edge of Kohli’s bat as he pressed forward in defence. Darly Mitchell did the rest at first slip.
As a result here’s a look at their series stats:
Rohit: 6 innings, 91 runs, highest score 52, average 15.16.
Kohli: 6 innings, 93 runs, highest score 70, average 15.50.
Rohit’s average of 15.16 is the worst of his Test career in a series where he played at least three matches. Oddly enough, in a series dominated by spinners from both sides, Rohit was dismissed four out of six times by pacers with Tim Southee and Matt Henry accounting for him twice each. Rohit’s Test average (42.29) has also dipped to its lowest since he moved up to open in Tests at the start of the inaugural World Test Championship in October 2019.
Virat’s 15.50, meanwhile, is the worst average of his Test career at home where he has batted at least 6 innings. (There are a couple of 3-match series where he has a worse average but batted only 5 times in those two). Courtesy his poor run, Kohli’s Test average has dipped below 48.00 now — 47.83 — from the high of 55.10 in October 2019. The last time his Test average was below 48 was Nov 2016.
