New Zealand inflicted a rare home loss to India in the first Test match in Bengaluru on Sunday. This is New Zealand’s first Test match victory in 36 years.
The Indian team were bowled out for a mere 46 runs, their lowest on home soil. Rohit Sharma decided to bat after winning the toss and the Kiwis bowlers took advantage of the overcast condition to dismantle the famed Indian batting lineup.
Sarfaraz Khan’s stupendous 150 and Rishabh Pant’s fighting 99 proved to be two defining knocks in the second innings as it helped India to bridge the deficit. But despite their heroics, the visitors ran away with the match by grabbing an eight-wicket victory at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Captain Rohit Sharma insisted he is satisfied with the way Indian batters responded in the second innings after the first inning debacle.
As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo he said, "When you are 350 runs behind, you can't think too much about it. All you got to do is try and bat the ball, as simple as that. That was the plan," Rohit said. "We wanted to bat and see where the game goes. A couple of big partnerships there, really was exciting to watch, and put us back in the game. Like I said, when you're 350 behind, it could have been easily [a situation] where we could have [been] bowled out before even getting 350. It was a great effort with the bat, something as a team we're very proud of."
India will have a chance to restore parity when they host New Zealand in the second Test match in Pune starting from October 24. India do pose a very dominant record on home soil and they would be eager to live up to the expectations this time.