Rohit Sharma during the post match press conference (Photo: X)
Ending a winning streak after 12 years, team India led by Rohit Sharma had lost the three match home test series against New Zealand after the visitors comfortably beat the hosts by 113 runs in the second test.
Talking after the loss, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that he's hurt because the team lost the match and the series. He also termed the defeat as a collective effort.
"We lost as a team. No batters or bowlers to blame, we lost it collectively," he said.
The star opening batter, who scored 0 and 8 runs in the first and second innings respectively also agreed that the team didn't bat well in the first innings.
Despite the setback, the skipper was optimistic and said "When you are doing consistently well, it happens in one or two series. I do not doubt anyone's ability, I won't do a postmortem."
He even backed senior members of the team Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. "Ashwin and Jadeja both have had a huge role in our run of 12 years. They are allowed to have some bad games. They aren't going to run through the batting unit every time," Rohit said.
Meanwhile, India endured their first defeat after 18 consecutive Test series victories at home, while New Zealand celebrated their first ever series-victory on Indian soil in nearly 70 years.
The team's successive batting collapses, beginning with the historic low of 46 all-out in the opening test in Bengaluru which they lost by eight wickets, combined with first series loss at home since 2012-13, is indeed devastating for the fans, team management, and the players.
Kiwis broke India's string of 18 consecutive Test series wins at home. It was also India's only fourth Test series defeat in their own backyard since the turn of the century.
Despite the defeat, India continues to stay on top in the World Test Championship table with 98 points but their percentage points (62.82) got hit badly as Australia are now marginally behind at 62.50.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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