IND vs NZ: "We didn't perform well collectively," says Rohit Sharma after India suffer first-ever home whitewash

Rohit Sharma has shared his thoughts after India’s historic whitewash against New Zealand at home.

New Zealand have etched their name in cricket history by becoming the first team to whitewash India on Indian soil in a test series of three or more games.

India, who had an impeccable record at home over the past dozen years, were shambolic with the bat against the Kiwi bowlers in this series. Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips ran riots against the Indian team taking more than 35 wickets combined in the series.

Big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have been match-winners for India, had a series to forget. New Zealand on the other hand used their experience of playing in Asian conditions to full effect with Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Ajaz and Mitchell Santner all dropping match-winning performances.

The third test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium was the most closely contested game of the series. New Zealand’s subcontinent expert Ajaz Patel once again emerged as vital for the visitors. Ajaz dismantled India’s batting lineup, claiming a total of 11 wickets in the match.

With the bat, New Zealand displayed resilience and composure. Will Young starred for the Kiwis with the bat, contributing with 122 vital runs in the test. For India, Rishabh Pant stood out as the lone warrior, scoring fluent half-centuries in both innings.

Rohit Sharma reflects on the defeat: “We didn’t play our best cricket”

In the post-match interview, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged the team’s struggles, emphasizing that they didn’t play at their best level.

“Yeah, absolutely, you know, losing a series, losing a test is never easy, not easily digestible, again, we didn’t play our best cricket, we know and we accept. They did so much better than us. We made a lot of mistakes, and we’ll have to accept it.” Rohit Sharma said.

Reflecting on India’s small first-innings lead, Rohit admitted, “We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the 1st innings and we were behind in the game. Here, we got a 30-run lead; we thought we were ahead, the target was achievable, we had to do better, though.”

Rohit concluded, “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.”

India’s historic series defeat has put a huge dent in their World Test Championship (WTC) hopes. India’s next assignment in test cricket will begin in Australia in Perth on November 22 where the Asian giants will face the Aussies in five test Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

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