Rohit Sharma during the presser on Thursday
Credit: DH Photo/ S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: Skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that he "misjudged" the pitch and just fell short of blaming himself for the position India find themselves in the opening Test against New Zealand here.
Opting to bat first, India were bowled out for 46 on the second day (first day was washed out) and in reply, the Kiwis had raced to 180/3, 134 runs ahead, when stumps were drawn for an extended day.
"Look, we felt there was not much grass on the pitch," Rohit said. "We thought it will do whatever it has to do in the first couple of sessions and then it is going to take turn as the game goes on. That is how whenever we played in India, the first session is always critical and then the wicket tends to settle down and then the spinners come into play.
"As I said, there was not much grass, so the reason to add (left-arm wrist spinner) Kuldeep (Yadav) was because he has bowled on flat pitches and he has taken wickets. So we expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be. So clearly a misjudgment of (reading) the pitch. Obviously, I did not read the pitch well enough and we sit in that situation today," he offered.
Rohit, who bravely fronted the media on an eminently forgettable day, agreed the Indian batters could have been more judicious in their shot selection.
"You can say that because we got all-out in 46, but on such wickets where the seamers have a little help, you have to make your game plan a little earlier. We have played on such wickets many times and have been successful to a great extent. Every batsman has a different plan. Every batsman who went in had a plan on how to play because everyone knew what the pitch was and what was happening. But sometimes it happens that you are trying to do something and that plan does not work. So today was a bad day for us. But we have played many such matches before. It was a challenge, but we should challenge ourselves as much as we can."
The Indian captain emphasised the need to not give away too many runs to New Zealand in order to stay in the game.
"Clearly, they are 170-180 runs. So that is about 140 runs (lead). So (give) as (many runs) less as possible because the wicket seems to be settling down a little bit. So we expect the pitch to play like that. We have got to bat really big in the second innings and try and see if we can make a game out of that."
Precautionary measure on Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant had to walk off the field after the wicketkeeper-batter was hit on his right knee cap while keeping to Ravindra Jadeja. The stumper looked in great pain as he was helped off the field by the physio.
"Unfortunately, the ball hit him straight on his knee cap, the same leg which he has undergone a surgery on. So he has got a little bit of swelling on it and the muscles are quite tender at this point in time. So it is a precautionary measure. We do not want to take a risk. Rishabh does not want to take a risk because he has gone through a massive surgery on that particular leg. So that was the reason for him to go inside. Hopefully, tonight he can recover and we will see him back on the field tomorrow."