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'Not Digestible...,' Rohit Sharma Speaks His Heart Out After Embarrassing Series Loss vs NZ

Muskaan Bhatt

Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma (Source: X.com/JioCinema)Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma (Source: X.com/JioCinema)

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India suffered a 25-run loss to New Zealand in the third and final Test of the three-match series. This 3-0 defeat to Tom Latham-led New Zealand has moved India to second place on the World Test Championship table, and things have gone from bad to worse.

Unfortunately, this is also India's first time getting whitewashed in a Test series at home since 2000. Conversely, Tom Latham became the first New Zealand skipper to sweep away India at home.

Reflecting on India's crushing defeat, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma discussed what went wrong for the home team in the post-match presentations. Harsha Bhogle asked the 37-year-old how he felt after losing at Wankhede. Rohit responded that the defeat was indigestible and credited the BlackCaps for their excellent all-around performance.

"Yeah, absolutely. Losing a series or losing a Test match is never easy. It is something that is not digestible. We didn't play good cricket. New Zealand played better than us. Credit to them. We have to accept that we didn't play the best cricket and made a lot of mistakes. We didn't score enough first innings score in the previous two matches and were always behind in the game. In this game, we had the lead; we were a little ahead, but we failed to capitalize," he said.

Rohit Sharma On His Performance Against Kiwis

Talking about his own performance in the Test match, the Mumbai-born batter said that the plan in his head was not executed properly and that's exactly what went wrong. India did not play good cricket in the conditions and faced the repercussions of it.

"While chasing a target, we need to have runs on the board. I had that in mind. It didn't come off. And when it doesn't come off, it looks bad. We come up with a certain mindset while batting; if it comes off, it is great, or else it looks really bad. I go in with certain plans and those did not come off this series. We did not play our best cricket in these conditions and are facing the result of that," he added.

The Indian skipper himself has had a forgetful time at the crease in this series having accumulated less than 100 runs. His highest score came against the Kiwis during the first Test where he slammed 52 runs.

Lastly, while talking about the brilliant performances by Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar in the game, Rohit hailed their performance and said:

"Those guys showed how to bat on this kind of surface: Pant, Gill, and Washington. You have to be proactive, for the last three years, we have been playing on pitches like that. This was an unfortunate series where we tried certain things that did not come off. I was not at my best as captain in leading the team or with the bat. Collectively, as a unit, we failed to perform," he concluded. 

India's WTC Final Qualification Scenario

Meanwhile, India need to win four out of remaining five games in order to qualify for the WTC Final. They would be focused on putting their best foot forward in Australia for the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy starting from 22 November onwards in Perth.