There is no hiding from the fact that Team India have struggled away from home. The conditions of red and white ball vary from each other and with that being the case, touring a nation playing white-ball cricket, the red ball is completely different especially in New Zealand and England where the conditions can be a bit similar.
Indian batsmen have been finding it hard to cope with the seaming conditions in New Zealand.
In the first two Tests, Indian batsmen came under fire for their inability to add more runs for the team. Indian captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane, who have always thrived in the middle-order for India in the longest format of the game, failed to get going against the high-quality Kiwi pacers.
Virat Kohli ran through a worst-ever series in his Test career after managing to garner only 38 runs in four innings. Rahane was on the receiving end when he scored 9 runs off 43 balls while Indian captain failed to middle the balls well against the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson.
Sanjay Bangar on Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane’s batting:
Former India batting coach Bangar was not happy with the way Rahane and Kohli approached the game. Sanjay Bangar highlighted the faults in their approach during the post-match show.
“I am surprised to see Ajinkya Rahane play the way that he did. He was playing into the trap that New Zealand had set for him. All the field positions were also indicative of the fact that they will pepper him with short stuff. The need of the hour was to be defensive. He should have let a few balls go or duck under a few short balls. You expect a player with such high experience to show more application. I am sure Rahane will be very disappointed with his innings,” said Sanjay Bangar.
Bangar went on to explain that Kohli usually takes guard between the middle stump and leg stump but during the team’s tour of New Zealand, he was covering all his stumps. This is the reason why Kohli struggled to score runs and his point of contact of the eye was outside the off stump.