Captain of Indian National Cricket Team Rohit Sharma New Zealand took full responsibility for India’s disastrous batting show in the first innings of the first Test against the National Cricket Team.
The first test of the triple match series finally started at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, October 17, after the first day was washed out due to rain.
India puts in a Terrible Batting Performance
India won the toss and took a shock decision to bat first. They made Shubman Gill and two changes in the squad from the previous match Akash Deep He was replaced by Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav.
The decision to bat first turned into a nightmare for the Indians as 5 players scored ducks in the innings. Those players were Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, jasprit bumrah and Mohammed Siraj registered single-figure scores while Rishabh Pant (20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) scored in double figures.
India reached 46 in 31.2 overs and left the cricketing world in absolute shock. This was India’s lowest total in an innings at home and overall the lowest of any team on Indian soil. It was also the third lowest total in India’s Test history after 36 against Australia at Adelaide 2020 and 42 against England at Lord’s 1974.
It hurts me to see this 46 as a captain because it was my call to bat first – Rohit Sharma
After India’s terrible show on Day 2, especially with the bat, Rohit Sharma, like a brave captain, came out to talk to reporters. He revealed that batting first was his call and said he was hurt to see the score of 46 runs on the board.
“It hurts me to see that 46 as captain because it was my first batting call. But one or two bad calls in a year is good,” Rohit said after the day’s play.
Explaining the reason for India’s first step into bat, Rohit Sharma said they felt the conditions would only favor the pacers in the first session and then the pitch would settle.
The Indian skipper later admitted that it was his side’s misjudgment while reading the pitch that led to his side’s terrible batting show.
“We felt that there was no grass on the field, we thought about what to do in the first few sessions. And it will change as the game progresses. When we play in India, the first session is critical and then the spinners come into play. The reason for bringing in Kuldeep was because he was taking wickets on flat pitches. So we expected the pitch to be flatter than it was. Obviously it was a misjudgment of the pitch, I didn’t read the pitch well enough. And that is where we are today,” said Rohit.
We were successful on such wickets, all the shots had a plan – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma further emphasized the importance of having a perfect game plan to counter the threat of the sears in pace-friendly conditions.
According to the Indian skipper, they had plans but failed to execute it in the first innings. Rohit Sharma elaborated:
“You can say that. We got everything for 46 manats. There was help for the Mariners, and you have to game plan for that.
“We’ve had success with wickets like that, every shot had a plan. But sometimes you don’t execute what you plan. We had a bad day. But we’ve been a part of matches like that. It’s a tough job and you have to challenge yourself.
