IND vs NZ: India seems to be stuck in a difficult situation during the first Test match being played against New Zealand in Bengaluru. On the first day of the match, the toss could not be held due to rain, but on the second day, a decision of Team India captain Rohit Sharma proved to be very costly for the team. Team India was all out in the first innings on a score of just 46 runs, while in response, New Zealand team scored 180 runs at the loss of three wickets.
Despite winning the toss, Rohit Sharma took the suicidal decision of batting first even though the weather and pitch conditions were quite favorable for the fast bowlers. Veteran cricketers also believed that in case of winning the toss, the right decision would be to bowl first on this pitch, but Rohit Sharma ignored the opinion of the veteran cricketers. After the end of the second day’s play, Rohit Sharma admitted his big mistake and apologized to the fans.
Shameful performance of Team India
When the Indian team came out to bat after captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat first, the sky was cloudy and ideal conditions for New Zealand’s fast bowlers. Matt Henry, Williams and Tim Southee troubled the Indian batsmen with their swing and seam. The situation became such that five veteran batsmen of Team India including Virat Kohli could not even open their accounts. India’s first innings was reduced to only 46 runs in 31.2 overs.
Team India has been out on such a low score at home for the first time in 92 years of Test history. When the New Zealand batsmen entered the field after all out the Indian team, there was no pressure of any kind on them. He batted comfortably and put his team in a strong position. By the end of the second day’s play, the New Zealand team had scored 180 runs at the loss of three wickets. In this way, the New Zealand team has tightened its grip on the Test match in the first innings itself.
The giants had already predicted
The noteworthy thing is that veteran cricketers also believed that this pitch will provide a lot of help to the fast bowlers once the innings starts. Apart from former New Zealand cricketer and commentator Simon Doull, former Indian cricketer Murali Karthik also made correct predictions about the pitch. He said that the pitch is hard from below and dry from above. This means that the new ball will rotate a lot at the beginning of the innings, which can create problems for the batsmen.
The predictions of these legendary cricketers proved to be absolutely correct as no Indian batsman could face the New Zealand fast bowlers with confidence. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma, who has long experience, completely failed to read this pitch. He took a suicidal decision to bat first which proved to be very costly for Team India.
Rohit Sharma accepted his mistake
After the match, Rohit Sharma admitted that he had made a huge mistake in sensing the mood of the pitch. When the captain reached the press conference after the shameful performance of the batsmen of the Indian team, as soon as he came, he told the journalists to use the sword. Rohit knew that after the performance he would be bombarded with questions. Rohit said that I have made a big mistake and I am very sad to see the team getting out for 46 runs. He said that we thought that after the first session this pitch would be favorable for the batsmen. There was not much grass on the pitch and we thought it would be flat. It was a misunderstanding and I didn’t read the pitch properly.
