The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, decided to go to the post-match press conference at the end of the second day’s play in the opening game of the three-match series against New Zealand. From the start of the day, where he opted to bat first on a surface that was under the covers for nearly four days to keep three spinners in the side, nothing went in their favor.
Once they kept three spinners in the side, it was bound for the home team to go with batting first, but the whole planning backfired them in the end, being bundled out for just 46, their third-lowest innings total in the longest format of the game. That was also the lowest innings total for them at home in the five-day form of the game.
“Chalao Talwaar (get the knives out)”- Rohit Sharma made a savage start in the press conference, expecting some tough questions from the media.
Rohit Sharma shows honesty after a poor first day against New Zealand
The Nagpur-born was asked about highlighting the decision to bat first on a wet track under overcast conditions, and he felt that they wanted to go through the tough period before collecting the rewards in the second session when the sun was expected to shine.
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“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.” Rohit Sharma claimed in the post-match conference.
“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.” The veteran admitted.
India was without their regular number three batter in the side, Shubman Gill, who was injured during the Test match. In his position, they promoted Virat Kohli up the order despite having KL Rahul as the opener in the side. Both Kohli and Rahul made ducks, followed by Sarfaraz Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja.
“We don’t want to touch KL’s batting position much. He has found a place at 6, so, let’s give him a rope there. Same with Sarfaraz, we wanted to give him a similar position to where he bats because he is new to international cricket as well.” Rohit Sharma addressed in the presser.
“So Virat was the one who wanted to take responsibility. We had a discussion, and he was fine with it. That’s a good sign that players are taking responsibility.” He said.
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The bowling was also poor in the game as New Zealand ended the second day with 180/3 on the board, thanks to their lead of 134 runs, which was always going to haunt the home side going deep into the Test match. The catching was below average.
Rohit Sharma, in a few moments of the game, made some poor decisions regarding the bowling department. The New Zealand batter showed the right template by smashing the Indian spinners around the ground to make one of the haunting days for the home side.