'It hurts, I made the call': Rohit Sharma on India's decision to bat first against New Zealand in Bengaluru Test

BENGALURU: His decision at the toss backfired. He managed two runs during his laboured 30-minute stay at the crease. His team tumbled for a record-low score. He was guilty of putting down a regulation catch and a half chance. Being Rohit Sharma wasn’t easy on Thursday.

With India in dire straits on its home turf, all eyes were on Rohit. There were plenty of mistakes by the Indian team at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here, but Rohit shouldered all of it with humor and humility.

During his post-match press conference, which lasted less than 10 minutes, there were times when Rohit was at a loss for words, but when asked about the call at the toss, he didn’t flinch before saying, “I did not read the pitch well enough and we sit in that situation today. We expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be. So clearly a misjudgement of the pitch. I am hurting a little bit because I made that call,” he rued.



A thick cover of clouds hung heavy on the ground and it necessitated the use of floodlights, but it was surprising that India decided to go with two pacers and three spinners, bringing in Kuldeep Yadav for Akash Deep.

Explaining the team call, Rohit outlined, “We felt there was no grass on the pitch. We thought it would do whatever it has to do in the first couple of sessions and then it is going to take turn as the game goes on. That is how it is whenever we play in India. The first session is always critical and then the wicket tends to settle down and then the spinners come into play.

“We decided to add Kuldeep because he is bold on flat pitches and has taken wickets. We expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be."



Those who were not done in by good deliveries did not hesitate to shoot themselves. Like opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who held one end together for over 100 minutes before he decided to cut William O’Rourke through point, but failed to keep it down and watched in disbelief as Ajaz Patel picked up a screamer at backward point.

KL Rahul too floundered his wicket, while Ravindra Jadeja’s flick went astray. Five Indian batters failed to open their account.



While Rohit was among the batters to struggle on the day, he backed the batting lineup.

“Every batsman who went in had a plan of how to play because everyone knew what the pitch was and what was happening. But sometimes it happens that you are trying to do something and that plan does not work,” was his reasoning.



‘Replacing Pant a precautional measure'

In the 37th over of New Zealand’s innings, a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to Devon Conway spun sharply and hit Rishabh Pant’s right kneecap. The wicketkeeper fell to the ground grimacing in pain before he was helped off the ground.

The situation seemed alarming considering it was the knee that had been operated upon after Pant’s lifethreatening car crash.

“Unfortunately, the ball hit straight on his kneecap. He has a little swelling on it and the muscles are quite tender at this point in time. So, it (replacing Pant with Dhruv Jurel) is a precautionary measure. We do not want to take a risk,” skipper Rohit Sharma said.

“Rishabh does not want to take a risk. Hopefully, tonight (Thursday nigh) he can recover.”