Rohit Sharma admits blunder in reading pitch after India's ugly batting collapse vs NZ: 'Clearly, it was a misjudgment'
Rohit Sharma didn't shy away from acknowledging his mistake as he spoke about the decision to bat first during the opening Test against New Zealand.
Team India endured one of its worst days in Test cricket in recent memory, as the side was bowled out for just 46 on Day 2 of the opening Test in Bengaluru. After rains washed out the entire first day of the Test, Indian captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat – a decision that backfired the side tremendously – as India faced their worst batting collapse in a home Test.
With plenty of help for seamers on the surface, the Kiwi pacers exploited the conditions to optimum effect, unsettling the Indian batters from the word go. Despite Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal playing out the opening 30 minutes, there hardly seemed settled at the crease and Rohit's dismissal marked a flurry of wickets.
Virat Kohli batted at no.3 in the absence of Shubman Gill, while Sarfaraz Khan was promoted to 4, but both departed without troubling the scorers. Only Jaiswal (13) and Rishabh Pant (20) managed to breach double figures in a sorry-looking scorecard, as Matt Henry (5/15) and William ORourke (4/22) wreaked havoc on the batting lineup.
In the press conference following the day's play, Rohit acknowledged that he made a mistake in reading the pitch. India decided to take the field with only two spinners, while New Zealand didn't introduce any during India's first innings.
“We felt there wasn't grass on the pitch, we thought it would do whatever it would do in the first couple of sessions. And it will turn as the game goes on. Whenever we play in India, the first session is critical, and then spinners come into play. The reason to bring Kuldeep was he has taken wickets on flat pitches. So, we expected the pitch to be flatter than it was. Clearly, it was a misjudgment of the pitch, I didn't read the pitch well enough. And we are in this situation today,” said Rohit.
Can't execute plans
Rohit stressed that the Indian batters had a bad day on the field, stating that it was difficult to “execute” the plans.
“You can say that. We got all out for 46. There was help for seamers, and you need to make game plans for that. We have been successful on such wickets, all batters had some plan. But sometimes, you can't execute what you're planning. We had a bad day. But we have been a part of such matches. It's a challenge, and you got to challenge yourself,” said the Indian captain further.
