The Wankhede Test against New Zealand offered an opportunity of redemption but barring Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, none of the Indian batters managed to step up. The biggest disappointment of all was the performance from stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Both ended the series with less than 100 runs each in the 3-match series. At the post-match press conference, India captain Rohit was bound to face some tough questions, especially regarding his and Virat’s form. Rohit didn’t hesitate, admitting that seniors not scoring runs is a big concern.
“It is a concern when seniors aren’t scoring runs. But what’s done is done. As a player, as a captain, as the team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn’t manage to achieve here. We have an opportunity to do something special in Australia. We’ll focus on that now,” Rohit Sharma said after the Test match in Mumbai.
For yet another instance, captain Rohit’s ultra-aggressive approach to take on the bowlers, when a calculated approach was required in a tricky situation, had him walking back and perhaps for the last time at his home turf.
Rohit’s (11) erroneous attempt to play his signature pull shot off Matt Henry on a delivery which was barely waist-high led to his fall.
As soon as Rohit’s top edge went up, Henry broke into celebration knowing it was headed towards Glenn Phillips – one of the best fielders – who ran behind from midwicket to take a fine catch.
Coming off a fine 146-ball 90, Gill shouldered arms on a delivery from Patel (4/43) expecting the ball to turn away but it straightened to crash into his off-stump.
Kohli (1) marched onto the ground once again with his bat trained on his shoulder, perhaps to exude confidence, but he could not reach the pitch of a floated delivery which took the edge of his bat to the first slip.
With PTI Inputs
