Team India suffered a humongous defeat at the hands of New Zealand at home. At the MCA Stadium in Pune, the visiting side clinched a clinical win against the hosts to secure a 2-0 against the Men in Blue. The Blackcaps reigned supreme in the Bengaluru & Pune Test Matches, while India’s shortcomings were utterly on public display after they severely faltered against the opposition. Since then, skipper Rohit Sharma has been in the firing range of critics. A former India cricketer has also slammed the India captain’s decisions and strategy, and he went to the extent of calling it bizarre.
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Former India Star RIPS Rohit Sharma After Dubious Calls During IND vs NZ Test Series
While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar slammed Rohit Sharma’s decisions during the India vs New Zealand Test series, saying that when choosing the batting order, he must consider the players’ general skill and quality rather than having a T20 mindset.
“The move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things should not happen. It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of…the T20 thinking of matchups left-hand-right-hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players,” Manjrekar said.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma reacts after losing his wicket during the day three of the first cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, India | Image: AP Photo
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The back-to-back losses in Test Cricket against New Zealand should be a wake-up call for the Indian Cricket Team, who have been showing signs of struggle against spin bowling. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy coming soon, all eyes are on the World Test Championship Standings.
After losing to New Zealand by 113 runs in the second Test on Saturday, India’s points percentage (PCT) suffered, but they still hold the top spot in the World Test Championship rankings. India’s PCT fell from 68.06 to 62.82, marking their fourth defeat in the current WTC cycle. Consequently, Rohit Sharma and his team are now only 0.32 points ahead of second-place Australia (62.50).
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