NEW DELHI: Former India coach Anil Kumble on Sunday slammed Rohit Sharma and co. after team’s unprecedented 3-0 series loss to New Zealand on home soil, pointing out that the Kiwis outplayed them in all three matches.
The three-match series concluded in Mumbai, where India lost by 25 runs as Ajaz Patel dismantled hosts’ batting line-up in their chase of a tricky 147 on the third day.
Kumble stressed the importance of a thorough self-assessment for the Indian team before their challenging tour of Australia. The former India spinner particularly called out the underperforming top-order batters, pointing to their inability to survive even a single session as a major issue.
“I think it’s about time. If it was not even before the start of this Test match, it certainly something that India needs to respect and then, you know, understand what kind of surfaces you need to play on as well. You know, I think we spoke about it even in Pune before the start of the Test match itself. It was a spin to win. But it’s certainly given New Zealand a chance to come out there and then do what they have done exceptionally well. I mean, kudos to them,” Kumble said while speaking to Jio Cinema.
Kumble noted that the Indian batters appeared mentally affected by the turning nature of the pitch, contributing significantly to their downfall.
Throughout the series, India struggled to compete with a dominant New Zealand team. In the first Test in Bengaluru, the Indian side was bowled out for just 46 runs by the Kiwi seamers. Then in the second Test in Pune, Mitchell Santner spun a web around the Indian batters, and in the third game, Ajaz’s 11-wicket haul dismantled the hosts.
“One team that has been really good travellers when they come to India has been the Kiwis. Everybody has a good soft word and nice word about the Kiwis. But this was a performance where, you know New Zealand dominated in the series. Yes, of course, the win was just by 25 runs. But the way they went about countering the pitches, the conditions, the bowling and that’s what you know, you need to give credit to to New Zealand. Whereas India succumbed to all those that I mentioned,” Kumble congratulated the Kiwis.
“I think the pitch got to the heads of the Indian batters…the top order not even batting a session throughout the series, except for that one partnership in Bangalore in the second innings. Other than that, you know in five innings to sort of just go through a batting line up, like the Indian batting line up in one session certainly says a lot about the approach, the attitude and of course, needs a lot of questioning and how you could come out of this,” he added.
Following the third Test, India captain Rohit acknowledged his mistakes both as a leader and a batter during the press conference.
He admitted the tough task ahead for the team, which is to win four Tests in Australia to secure a spot in the World Test Championship Final.
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