Bengaluru, India

Rohit Sharma owned up to misjudging the Bengaluru pitch following the second day’s play, where the Indian batters surrendered to top-notch bowling from the New Zealand seamers in the first session of the first Test. With day one called off due to rain and the pitch remaining covered for the most part since yesterday, India decided to bat first, only for them to register their lowest Test total at home – 46.  

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The Kiwi seamers made merry on this Bengaluru surface, with all three of Tim Southee (1), Matt Henry (5) and William O'Rourke (4) picking ten wickets among each other. New Zealand reduced India to 13 for three before the first rain interruption, with Rohit, Virat Kohli (0), and Sarfaraz Khan (0) returning to the pavilion.

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Soon after the game resumed, the left-handed pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant tried saving the sinking ship but failed, with Henry and rookie pacer O'Rourke tearing into India’s middle order. KL Rahul and the all-rounder pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin got out without troubling the scoreboard.

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It was about time before New Zealand wrapped up India’s first innings on 46 – their third-lowest Test total.

“You see and you try and make the judgment. Sometimes you make the right call, sometimes you don't, and I was on the other side of it this time around,” Rohit Sharma admitted after the second day's play in Bengaluru. 

“I'm hurting a little bit because I made that call. But see, for us as a team, I think these are the challenges.

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“So, what if we put ourselves under pressure a little bit? We want to play well. We want to challenge ourselves. This time around, it didn't come off, the challenges that were thrown at us. We didn't respond well, and we found ourselves in a situation where we got bowled out for 46 runs. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number, but in 365 days you'll make two or three bad calls. That's okay,” he continued.

Rohit wants India to fight back

New Zealand openers were on target in their first innings, adding 67 for the first wicket. Though they lost three wickets before stumps on day two, including their top-scorer Devon Conway on 91, the Kiwis took a lead of 134 runs with seven wickets remaining.

With India on the backfoot as things stand, Rohit admitted India will not let New Zealand get away with the lead or any momentum. He said the hosts would fight back, and with the wicket looking like settling down, they could up the ante and push for a result in their favour. 

“I think for us to stay in the game, we want to not let them get away,” he said. 

“[They've scored] Way too many runs, clearly they're 180, so that's about 140 runs [134], so [keep them] as less as possible. The wicket seems to be settling down a little bit, so we expect the pitch to play like that. We got to bat really big in the second and try and see if we can make a game out of that,” Rohit continued. 

(With inputs from agencies)