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ToggleRavi Shastri, former India coach, took a massive jibe at the Indian batters including Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, for their poor batting. This came after India was bowled out for 46 in 1st innings of the ongoing first Test against New Zealand being played in Bengaluru.
After India captain Rohit Sharma chose to bat first after winning the toss in overcast, cloudy conditions on day two of the first Test, India was bundled for 46 runs. Five batters failed to open their accounts including Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and R Ashwin.
When Shastri saw Kohli, Sarfaraz, and Rahul standing in the slip cordon during New Zealand’s first innings, he couldn’t help but mock them.
“Duck Party”- Ravi Shastri slams Virat Kohli, Kl Rahul and co for their poor batting
Ravi Shastri was on the commentary panel as New Zealand began their innings. Ravi Shastri was surprised to see five ducks on India’s scoreboard. As the camera focused on Kohli, Rahul, and Sarfaraz in the slip cordon, Shastri made a subtle joke at India’s middle-order batsmen.
“When you see that scorecard, you think there will be a duck party happening there. Five ducks! “It’s unheard of in India – lowest score, the team has been bowled out for 46. All three standing in slips, all out for ducks,” Ravi Shastri said during commentary.
The score is India’s record-lowest total at home and the third-lowest total overall in Tests. It was a shocking performance from India, who have been so dominant at home over the last few years.
Rohit Sharma admits to being wrong while judging the pitch before the toss and choosing to bat
Only Rishabh Pant (20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) managed to reach double figures in an unimpressive batting display. Matt Henry and William O’Rourke excelled with the ball for New Zealand, taking five wickets and four scalps each.
After the close of play, India skipper Rohit Sharma faced the press and answered difficult questions head-on.
“Today was a very bad day for us. We’ve played in tough situations like this before. It was a challenge, but we need these challenges from time to time,” Rohit told reporters.
He admitted that batting first after winning the toss was a mistake, but he also emphasized that the batters failed to carry out their strategies.
“You can say that because we were bowled out for 46. It looks like it (we kept playing shots and threw it away). But on these wickets, the seamers get a lot of help. You have to make your game plan as a batting team. We have played on such wickets a lot of times and we have found success on such pitches a lot of times. Every batter has a different plan. Each batter walked into bat with a plan to tackle the bowlers. Everybody knew how the pitch was and what was happening. But, sometimes, in trying to do something, you don’t execute your plans well. Today, it was a bad day for us. We have played a lot of such matches in the past. It was a challenge, yes,” Rohit said.
New Zealand made merry and put up 402 runs with Rachin Ravindra top-scoring with 134 runs. Tim Southee (65) and Devon Conway (91) also contributed well to the Kiwi total.
Also Read: Rachin Ravindra Becomes First New Zealand Player To Score A Test Ton In India After 12 Years