Mumbai. Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday described the disappointing 0-3 defeat against New Zealand at home as the worst phase of his career and took full responsibility for the Test series defeat. India suffered a 25-run defeat in the third and final Test against New Zealand here on Sunday, suffering a humiliating 0-3 defeat at home for the first time. Chasing the target of 147 runs, the Indian team was all out for 121 runs.
Rohit said in the press conference after the match, “This kind of performance will be the worst phase of my career and I take full responsibility for it.” He said that losing a Test series like this on home ground cannot be ‘easily digested’. Rohit said, “It is difficult to digest the fact of losing the series. Losing a series, losing a Test match is never easy. This is not an easy thing to digest. We did not play our best cricket. New Zealand performed better in the entire series. We made many mistakes. ,
Rohit said, “In the first two Tests we did not score much runs in the first innings. In this match we took a lead of 28 runs and then the target could have been achieved.” “We failed as a unit,” he said. When you are chasing a target like this you want runs to get on the board. This was in my mind but it did not happen. It doesn’t feel good when what you want doesn’t happen. The Indian captain also admitted that he was disappointed with his own performance.
He said, “I enter the field with certain plans and those plans did not succeed in this series. We did not play our best cricket in these conditions and are suffering the consequences for it. Rohit said, “I could not give my best performance as a captain and also in batting. As a unit we failed to perform well together. ” Elaborating on his batting, the captain said that he will review his game.
He said, “My defense.” I didn’t play at the crease for very long so I didn’t defend much. I need to look into this. I try to keep my team in a good position, but sometimes you’re on the other side. Rohit said, “I don’t think I have lost confidence in my defence. I admit that I have not batted well in this series. But there have been only two series in which I have not batted well. ,
He said, “As you move forward, you try and improve and see what else I can do.” It may be possible that you don’t but I will check again. India suffered this embarrassing defeat against New Zealand, who had arrived here after losing 0-2 to the Sri Lankan team and their star batsman Kane Williamson was also not included in the team due to injury.
Now India has to tour Australia in which the visiting team has won in its last two tours. When Rohit was asked how difficult it would be for young batsmen in Australian conditions, he said, “It will be very challenging.”
He said, “We talk about this a lot. Maintaining the right mindset is going to be challenging. Australia will be challenging for those who have not been there. We need to create an environment where they feel safe and not afraid of where they are playing and against whom they are playing. He also backed the new support staff led by coach Gautam Gambhir which also includes Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate and former player Abhishek Nair. Rohit said, “The coaching staff has been good, they have just arrived. They are still understanding how players and teams work. It is the responsibility of the players to make things easy for them.”
The decision to play against New Zealand on spin-friendly pitches was right: Rohit
The Indian team likes to play on spin-friendly pitches at home but its plan failed miserably in the last two matches played in Pune and here during the three-match series against New Zealand. India was unbeaten in the home Test series for the last 12 years on pitches suitable for spinners, but New Zealand defeated them by 25 runs in the third Test on Sunday and swept the three-match series 3-0.
In Bengaluru, on a pitch conducive to fast bowlers, the team’s first innings was limited to just 46 runs, while in Pune and Mumbai, Indian batsmen failed to find the cut of New Zealand’s spin bowlers. When Rohit was asked in the post-match press conference whether the team should reconsider its plan to play on a spin-friendly pitch, he said, “It has not been decided much in advance as to what kind of pitch to play on.” It happens. “It is decided series by series.”
He said, “We have played against England on excellent pitches and this time we felt that it would be right for the team.” The Indian captain said, “The team has been successful on most occasions but this is the only time when we have fallen short of what we wanted to achieve from this series.” Rohit’s admission regarding the pitch was contrary to what former player and team assistant coach Abhishek Nair had said before the Mumbai Test.
Had told Nair before the third Test played in Mumbai, “I wish we could curate the pitches, but we do not do that. Curators do this. We play on whatever pitch we get, whether it is a seam pitch or a turn pitch.” India has suffered a big defeat in this series with a 25-run defeat by 113 in Mumbai and 113 in Pune. The Indian captain defended the team’s new coaching staff led by Gautam Gambhir (head coach), which includes Nair, Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands), Morne Morkel (South Africa) and T Dilip.
He said, “He has just joined the team.” They are understanding how this team and players work. This is the team’s second series after his arrival. It is the responsibility of the player to do his job. The associate members of the team have been together for only four-five months and in such a situation it would be too early to judge.” Rohit admitted that while chasing 147 runs to win, the Indian batsmen made poor shot selection and lost five wickets for 29 runs.
He said, “My start was not as expected. When you are chasing such a target, you want to try to put pressure on the bowlers. You cannot allow bowlers to bowl at a particular slot.” He said, “I played a bad shot but honestly I don’t regret it because it has given me a lot of success in the past. I will continue to do so.”