On the first day of the second Test match against New Zealand, India’s batsman Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari scored half-centuries but all of them were out just after reaching a fifty each. Post-game, the middle-order batsman Vihari accepted that all of them opted for poor shots because of which they lost their wickets early.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss in Christchurch and opted to bowl, handing a difficult task to India to bat first at a grassy pitch of Hagley Oval.
Well, Prithvi Shaw was in some form as he hit off boundaries to every pacer, putting pressure right on the opposition. He scored a fifty before giving a catch to Tom Latham at second slip. Though he set the base for India. Next batsmen to lead up India’s batting was Pujara and Vihari but they also lost the wickets early, giving easy catches.
Vihari lost the wicket just before the Tea break while Pujara lost his wicket just after the break.
Hanuma Vihari blames India’s batting error:
Vihari scored 55 off 70 balls, that includes 10 boundaries, before handing a catch to the wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling. After the match, while talking to media, Vihari was honest in his assessment as he blamed himself for playing a lose shot and handing over an easy wicket to the host.
“Yes, obviously as the pitch didn’t do as much as we expected,” Vihari said.
“They bowled in good areas and knew what to expect from this track. Prithvi set the tone, Pujara spent time. All dismissals happened at the wrong time. None of the dismissals were because of the pitch. Mostly it was because of batsmen’s error. Pitch was fair,” the dependable middle-order batsman said.
Hanuma Vihari’s strategy in Christchurch:
Vihari also disclosed his game plan with Pujara. Unlike the first Test match, he opined that he decided to be in attacking mode and asked Pujara to play in defensive mode.
“As Pujara was playing at one end and I wanted to take that lead and play positively because he is a player who will play for a lot of time. We know that.
“So I didn’t also want to take time and put pressure on Pujara or on our innings because if you don’t keep the scoreboard moving you will get stuck like in the last game. That’s why I decided to play positively and take them on,” Vihari explained his game plan.
Meanwhile, India posted a below-par total of 242 runs while the day ended with New Zealand opener Tom Latham (27*) and Tom Blundell (29*) batting in the middle. New Zealand is still trailing by 179 runs.