New Delhi: After India were beaten by eight wickets at the hands of New Zealand in the first Test, played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, skipper Rohit Sharma is facing a lot of trolls on social media for his “clueless captaincy”. The Bengaluru Test wrapped up on Sunday as New Zealand won a Test in India after a long wait of 36 years and Rachin Ravindra was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knocks of 134 and 39*.
Nonetheless, the Indian fans and cricket pundits were able to underline where Rohit lacked as a skipper in the game, making wrong choices right from the very start of the game. New Zealand have taken a lead of 1-0 in the three-match Test series and Rohit Sharma has already assured of making a comeback in the upcoming Tests, quoting their 4-1 turnaround against England in the Test series earlier this year.
But Rohit’s comments post-match didn’t calm the internet. Even Rohit himself admitted that he made some mistakes during the clash which cost them the game. Social media platform “X” (formerly Twitter) is currently filled with the posts of “Clueless Captain Rohit” after India were clinically dominated by the Kiwis at their own home.
Where did Rohit lack?
The not-so-promising Bengaluru weather was forecasted quite well before the start of the clash (Wednesday). The overcast conditions make it obvious that one would go for bowling first after winning the toss but Rohit decided otherwise – choosing to bat first. The decision didn’t take much time to put India on the back foot as a disastrous collapse followed at just 46 – India’s lowest Test score at home. New Zealand, who got their favourable conditions, bore many fruits during the clash, even while batting.
Moreover, Rohit was proven wrong by taking the three-spinner combination in India’s playing XI for the rain-interrupted clash. There were several pauses in the game which made things all the more difficult for Team India bowlers as the three-spin combo wasn’t practically of any use. Ideally, it should have been a three-pacer combo as Kuldeep Yadav, who was brought in as the additional spinner, could bowl just 21.3 overs in both innings combinedly.
So there was no point in adding a third spinner because even the pitch didn’t support them enough. It seemed Kuldeep could have been kept waiting a bit more and India should have stuck with the in-form pacer Akash Deep, who could be of some use in the overcast and swinging conditions.
