Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has called for “introspection” after India’s embarrassing 0-3 Test series defeat to New Zealand at home. At the same time, Tendulkar also hailed the performances of Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill during the third Test in Mumbai.
Shubman Gill scored a brilliant 90 off 146 balls in India’s first innings of the match. It was one of the best innings of Gill in Tests and also turned out to be the highest score by any batter in the match.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant showed his class in both the innings of the match. The wicketkeeper-batter scored a fiery 60 off 59 balls in the first innings and followed it up with a counter-attacking 64 off 57 balls in the second innings.
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Sachin Tendulkar calls for “introspection” after India’s Test series defeat to New Zealand
Sachin Tendulkar took to social media to express his views on India’s shocking series defeat. The legendary batter called for introspection after this loss and wondered what led to such an embarrassing defeat at home.
“Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection. Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice?” Tendulkar posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection.
Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? @ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and @RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings— his… pic.twitter.com/8f1WifI5Hd— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 3, 2024
The poor form of India’s batting order
The shot selection of Indian batters has been under question since the start of this series. The batters have tried to play with an aggressive intent instead of grinding it out like proper Test cricket.
On the final day of the series, India’s captain Rohit Sharma was out to a poor shot when he tried to pull away a ball from Matt Henry but got a top edge only to be taken by Glenn Phillips. Sarfaraz Khan too perished to a full toss which was asking to be hit. But he hit the ball straight to the midwicket fielder.
Sachin Tendulkar lauds Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill
While Sachin Tendulkar was critical of the way India played, he also lauded Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant for playing outstandingly under pressure on a difficult batting pitch. The Master Blaster further congratulated New Zealand for a memorable overseas win.
“@ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and @RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings— his footwork made a challenging surface look like a different one altogether. He was simply superb. Full credit to New Zealand for their consistent performance throughout the series. Winning 3-0 in India is as good a result as it can get,” Tendulkar posted on X.
The performances of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant were a few positives for India going into the next series. Both are young and are expected to serve Indian cricket in the years to come.
But India needs to do some serious work before the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. After the defeat against New Zealand, the five Tests in Australia will be extremely important to India’s chances to qualify for the WTC final.
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