Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma shared his disappointment after a rare Test series loss to New Zealand, after a tough 113-run defeat in the second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday, October 16.
This was Rohit’s fourth loss as captain in 15 home Tests. New Zealand played extremely well in both matches, winning their first Test series in India by taking the Bengaluru game by eight wickets and the Pune game by 113 runs.
New Zealand made history with this first-ever Test series win in India, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent years.
India hadn’t lost a home series since 2012, but this young and determined New Zealand team surprised everyone, gaining a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
While New Zealand celebrated their historic win, Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted they didn’t expect this outcome. He praised New Zealand for playing better cricket and acknowledged that India couldn’t meet the challenges, resulting in the series loss.
During the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma said, “Disappointing. It’s not what we expected. I have to give credit to NZ—they played better than us. We failed to capitalize on certain moments. We failed to respond to those challenges. And we sit here today.”
The senior opener also pointed to the Indian batters as the reason for the team’s first home Test series loss since 2012. Rohit didn’t blame the Pune pitch; instead, he said the batters didn’t perform as expected. He praised the New Zealand bowlers for keeping India to 259 runs after India had been in a good position at 200/3.
Hitman Sharma further said, “I don’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You’ve got to pick 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board. It was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd, but we knew it was going to be challenging. When they started off, they were 200/3, and for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. Wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough.”
Rohit Sharma also regretted that they couldn’t get closer to New Zealand’s first-innings score, which might have changed the outcome of the Pune Test. In the end, he called it a team effort that fell short and promised to return with improved strategies and approaches for the third and final Test against New Zealand.
“Things would’ve been slightly different had we gotten a bit closer in the first inning. We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that test. It’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers. We will come out with better intent, better ideas, and better methods at Wankhede, Rohit concluded.”
