IND vs NZ second Test: I don’t doubt anyone’s ability, but batters must trust their plans, says Rohit Sharma

This was India’s first Test series defeat at home since 2012-13 when they went down to England 1-2.

Skipper Rohit Sharma chose not to place batters under the cosh for the series defeat against New Zealand but reminded them that they need to "trust their plans" to succeed against tough opponents.

New Zealand outclassed India by 113 runs in the second Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

This was India’s first Test series defeat at home since 2012-13 when they went down to England 1-2.

IND vs NZ second Test: Day 3 in pictures, October 26, 2024

New Zealand players celebrate after winning the second Test against India in Pune on October 26, 2024.

Captain Rohit Sharma and New Zealand's skipper Tom Latham shake hands after New Zealand won the second test cricket match in Pune on October 26, 2024.

Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir are seen dejected after New Zealand defeated India in the second Test in Pune. This is the first Test series loss for India in 12 years.

New Zealand cricketers made history on the Indian soil by winning a Test series after seven decades. India lost the first Test series at home after 12 years.

The stand-out performer for New Zealand is Mitchell Santner who took 13 wickets in the match and played a useful knock in the first innings.

After the dismissals of the top order, Ravindra Jadeja played a lone hand and was the last batsman to be dismissed as India was bundled out for 245 in the second innings.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal played brilliantly in the second innings but that was not enough for Team India as they succumbed to the guiles of Mitchell Santner.

Captain Rohit Sharma could not fire in both the innings as he failed miserably by getting out for 0 and 8 in the match.

Virat Kohli failed to show his class in both the innings as he succumbed to the guiles of Mitchell Santner in both the innings of the second Test

Ravindra Jadeja did well on the third day by taking 3 wickets in the morning session to restrict New Zealand for 255 in the second innings.
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IND vs NZ second Test: Day 2 in pictures, October 25, 2024

New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner proved to be nemesis for the Indian batsmen as he claimed seven wickets in the first innings and his effort enabled India to be dismissed for 156, in Pune on October 25, 2024

Virat Kohli was dimissed by Mitchell Santner for 1 in the second Test in Pune.

Mitchell Santner bowled brilliantly as this delivery dismissed Akash Deep on day 2 of the second Test in Pune.

Ravindra Jadeja was the top scorer for India in the first innings of the second Test. Jadeja scored 38 in the total score of 156.

New Zealand players celebrate the wicket of Rishabh Pant on day 2 of the second Test in Pune.

New Zealand’s captain Tom Latham scored a brilliant 86 to take New Zealand lead past 300.

New Zealand’s Tom Blundell was not out on 30 and he is expected to take Kiwis past 350.

Having taken seven wickets in the first innings, Washington Sundar took four wickets in the second New Zealand innings.

New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra was dismissed by Washington Sundar. Ravindra was castled by Sundar in both the innings.
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IND vs NZ second Test: Day 1 in pictures, October 24, 2024

Washington Sunday, playing in his fifth Test, took his career-best 7 for 59 and spun out New Zealand for 259 in the first innings of the second Test in Pune on October 24, 2024.

Washington Sundar being hugged by captain Rohit Sharma after his career-best 7-wicket haul in the New Zealand first innings of the second Test in Pune.

After winning the toss, New Zealand openers gave their team a sedate start when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Tom Latham in Pune.

After the dismissal of Tom Latham, New Zealand’s other opener Devon Conway played brilliantly to score 76. He was also dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin.

Continuing his good form from the first Test, New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra played a good knock of 65 but he was dismised by Washington Sundar.

New Zealand’s Will Young was the third wicket for Ravichandran Ashwin in the first innings of the second Test in Pune.

Rachin Ravindra celebrates his fifty and being congratulated by Daryl Mitchell.

New Zealand’s Tom Blundell was foxed by a Washington Sundar beauty on day 1 of the second Test in Pune.

Another beauty from Washington Sundar ends the stay of Ajaz Patel

After dismissing New Zealand for 259, India started on a wrong note with Rohit Sharma being dismissed for 0. Tim Southee was the wicket-taker. Rohit, who was cleaned up for the third time in the series and for the second time by Southee.
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"I do not doubt anyone's ability. I won't do much postmortem of this, but batters must come with their plans and trust on the plans like New Zealand batters showed," Rohit said during the post-match press conference.

"It's disappointing. It's not what we expected. We got to give credit to New Zealand as they played better than us. We failed to respond to those challenges." Then Rohit touched in detail on the batting malfunction part.

"I didn't think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You've got to pick 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board.

"It was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd (in the first innings) but we knew it was going to be challenging. It wasn't a pitch where a lot was happening. Things would've been slightly different had we got a bit closer in the first innings," he said.

Even though the series lost, Rohit promised a much better outing in third Test at Mumbai in a few days.

"We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that Test. It's a collective failure. I'm not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers. We will come out with better intent, better ideas and better methods at Wankhede," he added.

The series defeat also dented India’s chances of progressing to the World Test Championship final despite keeping the top spot on the table.

Rohit accepted the consequences of a rare series defeat at home.

“I am hurt because we lost the game. I can’t think about what lies ahead and can it affect our chances (WTC Final). We didn’t play well enough, and we lost the series and that is hurting. There are things we need to do as a unit,” he added.

Published - October 26, 2024 05:40 pm IST