Made mistake in reading pitch: Captain Rohit takes onus of 46 all out vs NZ

India skipper Rohit Sharma took full responsibility after what transpired on Day 2 of the 1st Test between hosts India and New Zealand. India posted their lowest ever total in Tests at home and got bundled out for just 46, courtesy of some brilliant bowling by the Kiwis.

Rohit took the onus for the team batting first and said that electing to bat first was not exactly the right decision to make at that time.

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"I am hurting a little bit because I made that call. We found ourselves in a situation where we got bowled out for 46 runs. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number," said Rohit during the post-day press meet after New Zealand were comfortably placed at 180/3. "So, clearly a misjudgement of the pitch. I did not read the pitch well enough, and we sit in this situation. Though in 365 days, you will make two or three bad calls. That is absolutely fine, I guess," Rohit Sharma said.

 

"The challenge that was thrown at us, we did not respond well. Sometimes you make the right call, sometimes you don't. I was on the other side of it this time around. Today was a bad day for us. But we have played many such matches before. We should challenge ourselves as much as we can," he added.

Reason for replacing Akash Deep

Speaking about his choice to add a third spinner in the form of Kuldeep Yadav to the eleven, he said, "As I said, there was not much grass (on the pitch). So, the reason to add Kuldeep was because he has bowled on flat pitches and he has taken wickets. So, we expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be," Rohit said.

Virat taking responsibility at no. 3

With India's regular number 3 in Tests, Shubman Gill, out with an injury, Rohit's job was made easier by experienced batter Virat Kohli, who put his hand up to bat at number three, as he has been doing over the years for the side.

"The experienced players are the ones who have to take that extra responsibility. It is a good sign. This time, it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do that. We asked him whether he could bat at number three," Rohit revealed.

"We wanted to give Sarfraz the position that he usually bats—four, five, six maybe. But we did not want to change Rishabh and KL (Rahul). Hence, Sarfraz went at four and Virat batted at three," he added.

Rohit on how to approach the rest of the Test match

With India struggling on Day 2, Rohit also spoke on how his men will try and approach the game from here on to get the best out of the situation. "I think for us to stay in the game, we have got to not let them get away with way too many runs. They are at 180, that is about 140 runs (lead). The wicket seems to be settling down a little bit, and we expect the pitch to play like that. We have got to bat really big in the second innings and try and see if we can make a game out of that," Rohit signed off.