India’s recent 113-run defeat to New Zealand in the Pune Test has raised concerns about the team’s batting performance. Captain Rohit Sharma has identified the batters’ inability to match New Zealand’s first-innings total of 259 as the primary reason for the loss.
Mitchell Santner’s exceptional bowling performance, with 7 for 53 in the first innings and 6 for 104 in the second, played a significant role in India’s collapse to 156 all out in their first innings. This deficit of 103 runs put India on the back foot for the remainder of the match.
Despite a promising start in the second innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring a brisk 77 off 65 balls, India fell short of the target of 359. Rohit acknowledged the team’s failure to put up a competitive score 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,” Rohit said. “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.”
While the pitch conditions were challenging, Rohit believes that India’s bowlers did a commendable job in restricting New Zealand to 259. However, he emphasized that the batters needed to step up and contribute more runs.
“We just didn’t bat well enough,” Rohit said. “Had we gotten closer to that score of first innings, things would have been slightly different.”
With the series deficit at 2-0, India faces the daunting task of preventing a whitewash in the third Test in Mumbai. They also need to secure enough points in the remaining matches to stay in contention for the World Test Championship final next year.
Rohit remains optimistic about the team’s ability to bounce back. “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.”
