India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, has openly acknowledged his subpar performance during the recent home series, which saw India suffer its first-ever 3-0 whitewash. He expressed his disappointment, stating he was “not at my best” in his roles as both captain and batsman. Rohit admitted that the team “failed as a unit” due to numerous mistakes made throughout the series.
In a chase of 147 runs to salvage any World Test Championship points, India faltered dramatically, collapsing to 121 all out against the spin bowling of Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips. Despite a brief glimmer of hope when Rishabh Pant countered with a rapid 64 runs off 57 balls, India found themselves in dire straits at 29 for 5. Pant’s dismissal, following a controversial third-umpire decision, led to a swift decline for the hosts.
“Losing a series and a Test match is never easy to accept,” Rohit commented during the post-match presentation. “This is a tough pill to swallow. We acknowledge that we didn’t perform at our best, and New Zealand outplayed us throughout the series. We made numerous errors, and we need to take responsibility for that.”
Rohit pointed out that in the first two Tests, the team failed to post competitive scores in their first innings, putting themselves at a disadvantage. Although they achieved a 28-run lead in the final Test, he believed the target was attainable with the right application, which ultimately fell short.
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Questions regarding Rohit’s batting form have surfaced throughout the series, with his scores being 2, 0, 8, 18, and 11, aside from a 52 in the second innings of the first Test. Commentator Sanjay Manjrekar criticized Rohit’s captaincy, labeling his approach as more suited to T20 than Test cricket.
In the Mumbai chase, Rohit managed just 11 runs off 11 balls, hitting two boundaries before falling to a pull shot gone wrong against Matt Henry. “When chasing a target like this, having runs on the board is crucial, and that was on my mind,” Rohit said. “It simply didn’t come off. I had specific strategies going into bat, but this series has been disappointing in that regard.”
Rohit reflected on his leadership as well, stating he wasn’t at his best while guiding the team, both personally and on the field.
Despite the disappointing series, Rohit highlighted some positives, particularly in the batting department. Younger players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, and Washington Sundar demonstrated the ability to score runs on challenging pitches, showcasing talent that he and Virat Kohli (who also struggled with only 93 runs across six innings) could not replicate.
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“These younger players showed us how to navigate these surfaces,” Rohit acknowledged. “You need to be proactive when facing conditions like these. We have discussed this many times over the last few years and know what we need to do. Unfortunately, this series didn’t pan out as we hoped, and we fell short despite our efforts.”
