IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma Faces Criticism: Fans Miss Captain Virat Kohli After Test Series Loss

Rohit Sharma’s captaincy comes under fire as India suffers defeats in the first two Tests of the series against New Zealand, marking the first home Test series loss since 2012. Fans express their disappointment, longing for Virat Kohli’s aggressive leadership style.

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Rohit Sharma, who took over the captaincy reigns after former captain Virat Kohli, has been receiving criticism from all corners for his captaincy after the Indian cricket team lost the first two Tests of the ongoing 3-Test match series at home.

Rohit Sharma Under Fire Following Consecutive Test Losses

The Men in Blue lost the first Test match against the New Zealand cricket team by 8 wickets and they were expected to come back stronger in the second Test match, however, they failed to impress the fans and eventually lost the second Test match by 113 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday.

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Notably, with this defeat Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain since MS Dhoni to lose a Test series at home. With this win, New Zealand cricket team has taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 against India. The third and the last Test match of the ongoing 3-match Test series will kickstart on November 1 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma Faces Criticism: Fans Miss Captain Virat Kohli After Test Series Loss
IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma Faces Criticism: Fans Miss Captain Virat Kohli After Test Series Loss

This was also New Zealand’s first-ever series win on Indian soil in Test cricket history. New Zealand, having won the opening match by 8 wickets, celebrated their first-ever series win in India since touring in 1955-56 under Harry Cave.

India’s last home Test series loss was in 2012, when England won 2-1 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy. Since then, India, led by Virat Kohli and later Rohit Sharma, has remained unbeaten in 18 home series, winning 42 matches, drawing 7, and losing only 5.

Last Home Series Loss in Tests

 

Team Year Days
India 2012 4331
South Africa 2020 1733
Australia 2021 1377
England 2021 1231
Zimbabwe 2023 620
Sri Lanka 2023 457
New Zealand 2024 229
Bangladesh 2024 206
West Indies 2024 70
Pakistan 2024 53

 

Speaking after the defeat during the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma said:

It’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

“Didn’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You’ve got to pick 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board. Was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd but we knew it was going to be challenging,” Rohit said.

“When they started off, they were 200/3 and for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. Wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough,” he added.

When asked about his expectations for the remaining Test in the series before India’s upcoming five-Test tour of Australia, Rohit said: “We want to show up well at Wankhede (Stadium) and try and win that Test. We will come out with better intent, better ideas and better methods.”

Fans Call for Virat Kohli’s Aggressive Leadership Style

Rohit Sharma’s captaincy faced scrutiny after pundits questioned his tactics on Day 2 of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune. Former captain and ex-head coach Ravi Shastri expressed surprise at the defensive field placements used as New Zealand began their second innings in the second session on Friday, October 25.

Tom Latham and Will Young struck a balanced approach of caution and aggression, taking advantage of the hot afternoon conditions in Pune. Rohit Sharma appeared uncertain, struggling to strike a balance between defensive fields and more aggressive, wicket-taking setups. This allowed Latham and Young to build a lead of over 100 runs in the first innings, with singles coming too easily and minimal pressure on the batters.

IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma Faces Criticism: Fans Miss Captain Virat Kohli After Test Series Loss

Meanwhile, fans on social media are trolling Rohit Sharma after India’s defeat in the second Test match. Fans are missing former Indian captain Virat Kohli and his aggressive approach. Check out the Tweets:

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