BENGALURU: Rohit Sharma called right at the toss but that was the only thing the hosts got right in a madcap first four hours of play on Thursday. Tactical blunders and questionable calls were the theme of the hosts’ first innings when play belatedly got underway in the first Test versus New Zealand.
After the first day was washed out, more rain was forecast for Thursday. It was dark, artificial light was turned on at 9.15 AM and also slightly chilly; some of the fans were wearing sweaters. So, when Sharma called tails, the decision to bat first was open to question.
The Black Caps sensed an early opportunity and eschewed the option of playing the extra spinner. The three pacers accounted for all 10 wickets between themselves as they moved the ball through the air while finding seam movement and bounce off the deck (on X, former Indian team analyst, Himanish Ganjoo, made the point).
While the visitors were spot on, India had many tactical blunders. Opting to bat, playing three spinners, promoting Virat Kohli to No. 3, asking Sarfaraz Khan to bat No. 4, refusing to send KL Rahul up the order... the mistakes kept piling up. The hosts were all out for 46 in 31.2 overs, the lowest ever by any side in Asia. This was also India’s lowest score in India after 37 years.
How they fell
1-9, Rohit; 2-9, Kohli; 3-10, Sarfaraz; 4-31, Jaiswal; 5-33, Rahul; 6-34, Jadeja; 7-34, Ashwin; 8-39, Pant; 9-40, Bumrah; 10-46, Kuldeep