Former England captain Michael Vaughan riled up India after the hosts were bowled out for 46, their lowest ever total in a Test at home, in the first match of the series against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The game could begin only on Thursday after the opening day was washed out by torrential rain in Bengaluru.
But despite overcast conditions and weather forecast for more rain, India captain Rohit Sharma decided to bat first after winning the toss.It proved to be a disastrous decision as India narrowly avoided their lowest ever Test total of 36, but were still shot out for their worse effort in a Test innings on home soil and third lowest total overall.
“Look on the bright side Indian fans .. at least you have got past 36 ..” Vaughan wrote on ‘X’, opening India’s wounds of 36 all out against Australia in Adelaide during their 2020-21 tour Down Under.
The Indian batting lineup crumbled in a mere 31.2 overs, as the New Zealand bowling attack, led by the experienced Matt Henry and the promising William ORourke, wreaked havoc on the hosts.
Henry’s exceptional spell of 5 for 15 and ORourke’s impressive haul of 4 for 22 left the Indian batsmen reeling.
Amidst the carnage, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant emerged as the lone warrior, top-scoring with a valiant 20 runs. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only other batsman to reach double digits, contributing 13 runs to the meager total.
The rest of the Indian lineup, including the likes of Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin, were dismissed for ducks, succumbing to the Kiwi pacers who expertly exploited the conditions.
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