PUNE: “We are allowed to have two bad matches after doing so well, especially at home over the years.” This was captain Rohit Sharma summing up the defeat to New Zealand as India’s formidable home-win record, stretching back more than a decade, came to an end here on Saturday.
“It’s necessary to be sad. But not in a bad way and do things that can harm us. We need to change our batting approach slightly, not completely,” Rohit said. Rohit probably won’t approve of the word ‘self-destructive’ when it comes to describing India’s batting for a large part of this series. “We first want to win the matches, not draw them. We have the ability to bat three days in a Test. But if we do that, we will win the game,” he said.
The skipper said that he didn’t want to be too critical of his team and teammates and create an atmosphere in which players would start doubting their own ability. “When we were juniors and not established players, all we wanted was support and encouragement from seniors and team management. I will keep them nice and calm and make them feel they belong here.”
Describing the need to bat aggressively, he said, “When you play around with the field and bowlers, it also allows you to play with a straight bat. We want to work on our weaknesses. But more than that, we want to work on our strengths,” he said.
Rohit conceded that India failed to respond to the pressure, and stated: “It’s too early to think about WTC.”
He first has to think about the third Test in Mumbai starting on Nov 1. Rival skipper Tom Latham said he was lucky with “two tosses”. What he actually meant was that in Bengaluru they got to bat second and bat first in Pune when conditions for batting were better. Rohit probably failed to read the pitch on both occasions. He did not feel that the pitch would be so spin-friendly in Pune that both Indian pacers would be almost out of the game in the second innings.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri, meanwhile, told the official broadcaster: “India underestimated New Zealand spin. It is a rude awakening, you cannot be complacent. India were outplayed in the first two Tests. They also played into the Kiwis’ hands with defensive fields. NZ were ready to see off the new ball and were prepared to attack spin.”