After India’s first home Test series loss in 12 years, Capt Rohit Sharma He admitted that he laid the foundation for the batting struggles in the first innings of the Pune Test 113 run defeat to New Zealand. A difficult pitch, compounded by a first innings total of 156, saw India trail by more than 100 runs and struggle to recover.
Rohit refrained from attributing the loss to a single issue but emphasized the need for evolution in India’s spin approach. He noted that while New Zealand’s batting adapted using different scoring techniques, the Indian team faced problems.
“The field was not bad at all. “We just didn’t play well enough to get close to their first innings score.” Rohit said in an interview after the game. “And then obviously when we were 100 runs behind, we always knew it was going to be tough regardless of the scores we were going to get. Because as the game went on, the pitch started to behave a little bit differently.”
Adaptation versus spin: Learning from the New Zealand approach
Especially batters from New Zealand Devon Conway, Racine Ravindra and Tom Lathamused sweeps, reverse sweeps and paddles to manipulate the field, keeping the Indian bowlers under constant pressure. Rohit took it as a valuable learning point for the Indian squad. “You have to look to run and that’s how you try to put the bowlers under pressure” Rohit said.
“As I mentioned about the New Zealand batsmen, they were trying to do different things and it worked very well for them because they were trying to do different things and put the bowlers under pressure and in the process there is a chance that the bowlers will try to do different things, misread the length and it works in favor of the opposition and that’s what happened.
“It’s something we want to do as a team. Run and paddle, reverse, sweep. Because when doing such things, they should take one extra person from the front and put them behind. And it allows you to play straighter and hit those gaps. And New Zealand did it. They were exploiting these fielders, they played backwards and swept and paddled, which meant we had to put the fielders at the back of the field.
“And it allowed them to play with a straighter bat. So this is what we are discussing. We have to work and find ways to score runs.
While India are used to dominating at home, this loss highlighted the need to adapt. Rohit added, “Because you have to find options to do different things when you play on pitches like this, where the only ball turns, the only ball comes with a goal. And then when you play with that area a little bit, it allows you to play with a flatter bat as well. We’ve been talking about sweeps and reverse sweeps and things like that for a while.
“But ultimately when a player comes out in the middle, it’s his decision what he thinks to do against certain bowlers at that time. Some bowlers, sweep and reverse sweep are not easy. Because they get the ball in very quickly. So, yes, it’s up to every inclination in the middle to accept this challenge. Whether he’s doing it or going down, stepping up and playing with your soft hand, pushing the ball in the gap, all of that. If we look at the last 10-15 Test matches we have played in India, I think it is common. We could not achieve that in these two games.”
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A balanced response to a rare series loss
Despite the setback, Rohit was quick to dispel the notion of any drastic changes in the team’s approach or squad. He highlighted the larger picture of India’s recent successes, including back-to-back wins over England and Bangladesh. “We can’t hit properly. So it is allowed once in 12 years. If there were such collapses for 12 years, then we could not win. But in India we have a lot of expectations. We have to win all the matches. We have made it a habit. Not because it’s your fault. Because we played very good cricket. So the expectations have gone beyond expectations that India can do no wrong in India. It’s not happening” reflected.
“Because the opposition also plays cricket. The opposition has been following India for many years. What is India doing? Why is India winning so many matches? So, they also come prepared. So sometimes there is a very small difference where the outside team comes. They play a little better than us and they win. that’s it. I can’t see much in it. Because as I said, we have played very tough cricket in the last four years. You see, we beat Bangladesh in the last series. Before that, we won against England. 4-1. If you remember the scripts, you will know how we won those Test matches.”
Looking ahead, Rohit assured fans that Team India will remain committed to maintaining its high standards, making tweaks to get closer rather than major changes.
“We are sad. It is important to grieve. But that doesn’t mean you have to change your entire system. Our system is that we play cricket one way. We just need to change our style a bit. that’s it” he concluded.
