Tom Latham and his New Zealand did the impossible as they brought an end to India’s near 12-year winning run at home. The Kiwis won the second Test match in Pune by 113-runs on Saturday to assert their dominance. Indian team was done in by spin as Mitchell Santner picked a rich match haul of 13 wickets in the game.
Indian team is already in Mumbai as they have been ordered to undergo two training sessions per day. The final match at the Wankhede Stadium is a game which Rohit Sharma and his team have to win. If India wins the third Test not only do they get a consolation win, but also keep their hopes of making it to the WTC finals alive.
Tom Latham during the post-match interaction shared his delight at the special win. This was the first time that New Zealand were winning a series in India. In-fact their win in Bengaluru in the first Test was after 36 years. Mitchell Santner was rightly given the man of the match for his efforts with the ball and on the field.
Also read: Did India make a mistake by not playing Axar Patel in Pune Test?
Here are three reasons why India lost the Test series to New Zealand
3- Inability to play quality spin bowling
Mitchell Santner didn’t have a single fifer before the Pune Test match but the 32-year-old was the best bowler on display. Even names like R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed to perform well with the ball in the game. Indian batters who have been called the best players of spin failed to contend with the precise bowling by Santner. The wicket of Virat Kohli in particular where the former skipper missed a full toss was shocking. 18 out of the 20 wickets that fell in Pune was to the spinners. Most of the batters failed to use their feet or employ the sweeps that New Zealand batters did against India.
2- Jasprit Bumrah fails to fire with the ball
Indian pace ace has picked just 3 wickets from the four innings against New Zealand so far. Those three wickets came in the first game of the series in Bengaluru as the 30-year-old went wicketless during the second Test match in Pune. The form shown by Jasprit Bumrah must concern the entire Indian team management. New Zealand batters seemed to have no difficulty in playing Bumrah as he lacked the bite with the new ball. Even with the old ball his ability to bowl reverse swing and take crucial wickets was missing.
1- Rohit Sharma’s timid captaincy in both Test matches
Ever since becoming the national captain, Rohit Sharma hasn’t done much wrong as far as decision making his concerned. in the current series against New Zealand, the 37-year-old has made some baffling calls. In Bengaluru, when Rachin Ravindra and Southee were going great guns, Rohit didn’t bring back his pacers. The biggest blunder was batting first under overcast conditions and getting bowled out for 46. In Pune, there was a chance to play Axar Patel instead of Jadeja to trouble the Kiwi batters. Even his own form with the bat is a huge cause for concern. After scoring duck in the 1st innings, Rohit was out just 8 runs playing a half-hearted shot in the second innings of the Pune Test.