In a candid post-match reflection after India’s historic whitewash in the Test series against New Zealand, the captain Rohit Sharma took full responsibility for the team’s disappointing performance. The series ended with India losing the third and final match by 25 runs in Mumbai, their first home Test series defeat in over a decade.
Rohit Sharma admitting his failure as a captain
Goalkeeper inclined Rishabh pants produced a valiant effort to mount a rescue effort and give the hosts a consolation win in three matches. However, his dismissal was the final blow that allowed New Zealand to claim a memorable series win.
Skipper Rohit expressed his deep disappointment during the post-match presentation, saying: “It’s quite difficult. It goes without saying that nothing in life is easy. One day you’re high and one day you’re not. This is what I have learned in my life. It is important for me to understand that life is not about the highs, but also about the lows.
“Something like that would be a very low point in my career because I’ve lost 3 matches at home. As captain and leader, I take full responsibility for this. I haven’t been at the best of my abilities since the beginning of the series. I wasn’t good enough with the bat either.” he added.
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Rohit also admitted that losing the home series to New Zealand was difficult to accept. The hosts struggled to find their rhythm throughout the series, facing back-to-back collapses on pitches that offered help to the spinners.
“Yeah, absolutely, you know, losing a series, losing a Test is never easy, it’s something that’s not easily digested. Still we didn’t play our best cricket, we know that and we have to accept that. They were much better than us. We made a lot of mistakes and we have to admit it. We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings (in Bangalore and Pune) and fell behind in the game.” said the 37-year-old.
“Here we were leading by 30 runs, we thought we were ahead, the target was achievable, although we should have done better. You also want to run on the board, that’s something I had in mind, it just didn’t pan out and it didn’t look good when it did. “When I go into bat, I have certain ideas in my mind, but it didn’t happen in this series and that’s disappointing for me.” he concluded.
Rohit & Co. will now travel to Australia for a five-match Test series starting November 22. India need to win at least 4 Tests against Australia to confirm their place in WTC 2025 Final.