Published: Jan 31, 2019, 11:53 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 31, 2019, 11:53 AM (IST)
India stand-in captain Rohit Sharma minced no words when asked to explain the sorry show of his team with the bat in the fourth ODI against New Zealand in Hamilton on Thursday.
Batting first, India were skittled for 92 – their seventh lowest total in ODI history.
Thanks to a devastating spell of pace bowling from Trent Boult, India were left in danger of posting their lowest ever ODI total before the lower order saved them the blushes. Boult finished with figures of 5/21 – the second best by a New Zealand bowler against India in the format.
“One of our worst performances with the bat for a long time,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation. “[It’s] something we didn’t expect. You got to give credit to the New Zealand bowlers. It was a magnificent effort. Something to learn for us.”
Rohit, leading India in the absence of rested Virat Kohli, said the batsmen should have shown more patience and applications in testing conditions.
“At times, you need to absorb pressure. We need to blame ourselves for it. Things were looking good at that stage. It was about applying ourselves. Once you get in, things will start to look easier. We played some bad shots as well. It’s always challenging when the ball is swinging,” he said.
New Zealand chased down 93 in 14.4 overs with 212 deliveries to spare. It was India’s worst loss in terms of balls remaining in the format.
“We’ve been having a good run in the limited formats for a number of series. Everyone knows what went wrong. There will be times when it swings and we need to deal with it. When you are playing for your country, you try to give your best. Good teams usually keep ticking the boxes and today we didn’t tick the right boxes,” he said.
