Brave Rohit Sharma fronts up to face press after 46-all out in Bengaluru Test

India captain Rohit Sharma displayed commendable courage by addressing the media after an unusually poor performance in a home Test. Following India’s dismal collapse for 46, their lowest total in a home Test, Rohit faced the press and answered difficult questions head-on.
While captains typically address the media before and after a Test match, Rohit went a step further, taking responsibility for the team’s dismal showing on Day 2 of the first Test against New Zealand.
“Today was a very bad day for us. We’ve played in tough situations like this before. It was a challenge, but we need these challenges from time to time,” Rohit said, summing up India’s day.
Rohit was candid in his reflections. He admitted that choosing to bat first after winning the toss was a mistake, but also emphasised that the batters failed to execute their plans. Despite the tough circumstances, Rohit maintained a sense of humour, downplaying the disastrous performance as just an “off day” for the team.
Rohit also backed his decision to send Virat Kohli higher-up the order, saying that the star batter was willing to do the job in Shubman Gill’s absence.
IND vs NZ Day 2: Highlights
New Zealand ended the day in the driver’s seat, getting to 180 for 3 in 50 overs. Devon Conway led a strong reply from the New Zealand team, hitting a stroke-filled 91 to add salt to India’s wounds. New Zealand ended the day with a 134-run lead, putting themselves in a position from where they are unlikely to lose the Test.
India made tactical blunders after seemingly failing to read the conditions properly. Captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat under grey skies and on a pitch that had moisture after having been under covers for the good part of the last three days due to the wet weather in Bengaluru.
Tim Southee and Matt Henry made life difficult for Indian openers in the first 30 minutes, making the ball jag around. While the overhead conditions helped, the pitch offered plenty of seam movement. The opening partnership lasted only 6.3 overs before Rohit threw it away.
Rishabh Pant was India’s top-scorer with 20 runs and Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only man to bat over 10 overs in the first innings. India had five batters who failed to trouble the scorers and one of them was former captain Virat Kohli, who was surprisingly promoted to No. 3 in bowler-friendly conditions.
‘Every batter had a plan’
You can say that because we were bowled out for 46. It looks like it (we kept playing shots and threw it away). But on these wickets, the seamers get a lot of help. You have to make your game plan as a batting team. We have played on such wickets a lot of times and we have found success on such pitches a lot of times. Every batter has a different plan. Each batter walked into bat with a plan to tackle the bowlers. Every body knew how the pitch was and what was happening. But, sometimes, in trying to do something, you don’t execute your plans well. Today, it was a bad day for us. We have played a lot of such matches in the past. It was a challenge, yes.
‘I didn’t read the pitch well enough’
We felt there was no grass on the pitch. We thought it would do whatever it has to do in the first couple of sessions, and it would take turn as the game went on. That’s how whenever we play in India… the first session is always critical and then the wicket tends to settle down and the spinners come into play. As I said, there was not much grass and the reason we thought we would play Kuldeep was he has bowled on flat pitches and he has taken wickets.
We expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be. So, clearly misjudgement of the pitch. I didn’t read the pitch well enough. And we sit in that situation today.
On Rishabh Pant’s injury
Unfortunately, the knee. The ball went and hit straight on his knee cap, the leg which he had surgery on. So, he has got a little bit of swelling on it. The muscles are bit tender at this point of time. It’s a precautionary measure. We don’t want to take any risks. Rishabh did not want to take a risk. He has gone through a massive surgery on that particular leg. That was the reason for him to go inside. Hopefully, tonight he can recover and we will see him back on the field tomorrow.
On bad day for fielders
It can happen to any team — one bad day. For you guys also, in the office, there are bad days, right? In the last two Test matches, we have taken good catches. It happens. I won’t read too much into it.It’s a game and every body wants to do well. It happens. Don’t judge us based on a day.
Why did Virat Kohli bat at No. 3?
Yes, he is a local boy. So he has to bat at 3? (laughs). After a long time, KL Rahul has found a spot at No. 6. We want to make him bat there. The experienced players are the ones who have to take up more responsibility. This time, it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do that. We asked him whether he can bat at No. 3. Sarfaraz, we wanted to also give him the position that he usually bats — 4, 5 and 6. We didn’t want to change Rishabh and KL. Hence, Sarfaraz went at No. 4 and Virat batted at No. 3. It’s a good sign. Players coming up and taking responsibility and owning up the challenge. It’s a good sign.
How to read a pitch?
You see and you try and make the judgement. Sometimes, you make the right call, sometimes you don’t. I was on the other side of it this time around, which is, I don’t know. I am hurting a little bit because I made that call.
For us, as a team, these are the challenges. We have put ourselves under pressure a little bit. We want to play well. We want to challenge ourselves. This time, it didn’t come off. We didn’t respond well to the challenge.
As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number – 46 all out. But, in 365 days, you make two or three bad calls. That’s okay, that’s fine.
‘New Zealand bowled better’
The conditions suited New Zealand the most. They play in such conditions back home. Their bowlers challenged our bat a lot. They made us play every second, and third ball. That’s exactly what you have to do when you see conditions like this.
There was a fair bit of help and they extracted that help pretty well and we didn’t respond to that challenge well.