Rohit Sharma on Pune defeat to New Zealand – ‘We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings’

“We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings, and then we were behind in the game – 100 [103] runs lead to New Zealand, and then from there, obviously it was a great fightback from us to restrict them to 250-odd [255, in the second innings], but then again we knew it was going to be a little challenging, but we gave it our all.

“We came out thinking that we can chase that target, but again, the continuous pressure from both [ends] meant that we were not able to respond to those challenges.”

Given the nature of the pitch, there was a feeling that India had allowed New Zealand to score too many runs on day one of the Test, but Rohit felt his bowlers had done a good job to restrict them to 259.

“No, not really [too many runs],” he said. “To be honest, when they started off, they were 200-odd [197] for 3, and then for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. But again, I thought it wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough. Had we gotten closer to that score of first innings, things would have been slightly different, but again, New Zealand played better.”

With defeats in Bengaluru and Pune putting India 2-0 down, they go to the third Test in Mumbai under pressure to prevent their first-ever whitewash in a home series of three or more Tests. There is also the pressure of winning enough points in that Test match and the five-match series in Australia that follows to ensure India stay in the race for next year’s World Test Championship final, but for now Rohit said they were only focused on the immediate task in hand.

“We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that Test match,” he said. “Not thinking too far ahead. It’s important that we focus on our next game, what better we can do as a unit because it’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would just blame the batters or the bowlers. It’s the team that has failed to accept the challenge that was thrown at us, it’s as simple [as that]. We will come out with better intent, better ideas, and better methods at Wankhede.”