The Test captain of the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, coming into the post-match press conference of the third and final red-ball game of the three-match series against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, takes full accountability for their whitewash with a 3-0 margin, as they fell short of 25 runs.
The Rohit Sharma-led side had a very tough time during the opening game in Bengaluru, where they were folded up for just 46 runs in the first innings and hardly able to make a comeback from that point of time. In the second Pune Test match, India was undone against the Mitchell Santner-storm on the rank turner.
The same disease carried in the third game of the series, where even after being asked to chase a low score of 146 in the first session of the game, they found themselves four down inside the first seven overs. The ability of their batters to play the spinners was exposed badly.
“It is tough. It tells you nothing is easy in life. One day, you are on high, the other day you are not. Something like this will be a very low point in my career. I fully take responsibility for this as a captain. I have not been at my best.” Rohit Sharma expressed in the presser.
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Questions were raised for the management to go with the spin tracks, which eventually helped the New Zealand side. Ajaz Patel finished with 15 wickets in the series at an average of under 24, while the part-time spin of Glenn Phillips also collected eight vital scalps in five innings.
“Playing on pitches, we don’t decide so much before. We played on good pitches in England. We felt this was the right thing to do as a team in this series.” The Nagpur-born explained.
Throughout the series, questions were raised over the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who looked defensive in the last two games. When a new batter walked out in the middle, the Indian captain kept the long-off and long-on near the ropes, which helped the batters to get the easy singles.
“Starting with the toss in Bengaluru. And many tactical errors throughout the series. I have not been at my best, and that probably cost us the series.” The veteran remarked.
Rohit Sharma disagrees the dismissal of Rishabh Pant in the second innings
The only ray of light for the home side in their chase of the final Test was the left-handed wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who smashed 60 runs in 59 balls with the help of eight boundaries and two sixes at a strike rate of over 100.
However, he was dismissed in a controversial way where the third umpire felt that the ball hit the blade before coming in contact with the pad. However, the Indian management wasn’t convinced with the overturn of the decision.
“What I know is if there is no conclusive evidence, the third umpire can’t overturn it. It was an unfortunate dismissal. What we want is consistency from umpires. At one point, it felt like Rishabh will see us through.” Rohit Sharma disagreed.
The fingers have also been put on the coaching staff, led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, but the Indian captain has supported them and asked the players to stand up in crucial moments.
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“They have been good. They haven’t got a lot of time. It is the players’ responsibility to help them with results and to make sure we are aligned with their thought processes. Too early to judge anything.” The 37-year-old responded.
The recent speculation has been if Rohit Sharma would be missing the opening Test of the upcoming Australia trip in Perth. But the captain hasn’t confirmed the news yet.
“Right now, I am not too sure whether I’ll be going, but let’s see. Fingers crossed.” The Mumbai batter concluded.
