‘I wasn’t at my best as captain and with bat’ – Rohit Sharma takes responsibility for series whitewash to NZ

Rohit Sharma took responsibility for India suffering a whitewash at the hands of New Zealand in the just-concluded Test series at home. Having failed to lead the side over the winning line even once in three Tests this time, more so for not delivering with the bat across six outings, Rohit admitted the final result hurts and that there’s a lot of reflection to do ahead of the marquee Border-Gavaskar series that starts on November 22 in Perth.

Scoring just 91 runs in three Tests, Rohit failed to provide the start India longed for in this series, resulting in them falling behind every time. However, he lamented the collective batting failure behind Indialosing a Test series at home for the first time in 12 years. The last time a touring team beat India in India was England in 2012 when they won the four-match series 2-1.

ALSO READ:New Zealand win Mumbai Test to claim series 3-0, becomes first team to whitewash India in India

"Losing a series, a Test match, is never easy... something that is not easily digestible. We didn't play our best cricket, New Zealand played better throughout the series,” Rohit said after the series loss to New Zealand.

“There were a lot of mistakes we did. The first two Tests we did not put enough runs in the first innings. This game we got the 30 runs [28] lead, and the target was chaseable. We failed as a unit,” he continued.

Youngsters shone for India

Although the biggies were far from convincing, several youngsters did the job for India, including a Test great in making Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Washington Sundar and India’s new number three in Tests, Shubman Gill. While Pant impressed with the bat throughout, scoring 261 runs across six outings, Sundar’s handy contribution with the ball in hand impressed everyone.

On the other hand, Gill played a handy knock of 90 in the first innings in Mumbai, cementing his place as Team India’s new number three.

"Pant, Gill, and Washington showed how to bat on those surfaces. You have to be proactive, the last three or four years, we have been playing on pitches like that. This was an unfortunate series where we tried certain things that did not come off. I was not at my best as captain in leading the team as well as with the bat. Collectively, as a unit, we failed to perform,” the Indian captain noted.

Meanwhile, the captain was aware of not justifying his role as a batter and the captain in this series.

“But this series, it didn't come off, certain things (on how to bat in such pitches), which didn't come off, and that's going to hurt. From a personal point of view, I wasn't at my best with both bat, and as a captain, that's something that'll rankle me. But, we didn't perform well collectively and that's the reason for these losses,” Rohit concluded.

(With inputs from agencies)