The India Test series against New Zealand began on a disappointing note as the team went on to suffer an eight-wicket defeat in the first Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This broke New Zealand’s long 36-year winless streak against India in Tests. Moreover, this loss has raised a finger on India’s game strategy. In the first innings itself, India collapsed to just 46 all out. Though, after a stout response in the second innings, marked by Sarfaraz Khan’s magnificent 150 and almost a century by Rishabh Pant with a 99-run spree, India’s earlier collapse in batting and questionable bowling decisions during crucial phases proved to be too much for it to overcome New Zealand’s dominance.

India crumbled in disastrous fashion in their first innings effort, but New Zealand capitalised to the fullest on that poor show. Rachin Ravindra scored a crucial hundred and Devon Conway 91 runs helped the visitors reach a commanding position. In the India’s second innings all-over determination was reflected in the goal set of 462, however, a target of 107 runs was never enough for the defending side, and they simply saw the comfortable chase from their opponents.

Sanjay Manjrekar On Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy

After the game, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar gave his verdict on the decisions taken by captain Rohit Sharma. He narrowed it down to a few points, specifically on how some decisions were taken which he thought went awry for India. He specifically pointed at Rohit’s stubbornness with continuing bowling Mohammed Siraj for so long in New Zealand’s chase, and he mentioned that Siraj is certainly not the bowler for such conditions. Manjrekar spoke about India’s main spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left underutilized. Manjrekar felt there was enough scope earlier in the innings that Ashwin’s experience and his ability could have come to rescue India.

“I can understand Siraj getting one or two overs and Bumrah getting a long spell. But Siraj getting 6 overs in that forespell, I think that is far too many and already a lot of runs on the board, and you had that little margin to chase,” Manjrekar said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo

“Another part is Aswhin. When there is no lavish turn on the pitch, the captain tends to use him with a new ball. He would have been tough for the Kiwi batters had he started off with Bumrah, and even if he had come in in the fourth over of the innings,” said the former batter.

“The thing with pacers, you might get wickets, but there are always runs coming through edges… I was a bit surprised, I think tactically for Rohit Sharma, this Test match wasn’t his greatest,” Manjrekar added.

India will be playing its second Test in Pune, starting from October 24.