- By Namrata Vijay
- Thu, 17 Oct 2024 12:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
India national team vs New Zealand cricket team, 1st Test: The fans have criticized the India national team for the strategies they used while batting first in Bengaluru against New Zealand. With the first day being completely washed out, Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first. But the decision didn't work in their favor in Bengaluru.
The Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal were seen struggling against the New Zealand bowlers as the pitch offered swing in overcast conditions. Rohit Sharma was the first batter to be dismissed by Tim Southee. Virat Kohli batted at the No,3 position and that ended in a disaster as well as he fell for a nine-ball duck by Will O'Rourkee. Sarfaraz Khan, who replaced Shubman Gill in the squad, also failed to fire with the bat as Devon Conway took a stunning catch and got the Mumbai batter out.
The Men in Blue were tottering at 13/3 in 12.4 overs and then the match was stopped for a while and gave the Indian batters some much-needed break from the assault of the New Zealand fast bowlers.
Also Read: Devon Conway takes a stunning catch to dismiss Sarfaraz Khan for a duck
The Indian fans were furious with a lot of decisions made by the team management and choosing to bat after winning the toss was the first one. A lot of fans failed to understand why Rohit chose to bat first considering the surface was covered for the last two days. Another decision that baffled everyone was why they did not send KL Rahul to the No.3 position since he is used to these conditions as he is the local boy.
Rahul came into bat after Sarfaraz, who too failed to make any significant contribution as a No.4 batter.
Here's how the fans reacted on social media:
Really dont understand why Rohit opted to bat first. Proper conditions to bowl and get the opposition out cheaply#INDvNZ
— Vishesh Roy (@vroy38) October 17, 2024
Why’d they have to bat first
— Esha (@jeezesha) October 17, 2024
Why would one bat first in such conditions? Overconfidence? #INDvsNZ
— Rajat 🇮🇳 (@rsaxena_rajat) October 17, 2024
Who's idea to bat first? Especially after the 1st day of the play missed due to the rain.
— Mohan (@mohan_thoughts) October 17, 2024
Kohli at 3, sarfaraz instead of Rahul. Why so many confusions here.
#INDvNZ
Rohit Sharma dismissed for 2 in 16 balls. pic.twitter.com/U48YEZJIkn
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2024
#INDvNZ I am very surprised India decided to bat first on very tough wicket it is completely captaincy blunder .
— Ashok kumar solan (@aksolan19) October 17, 2024
Vith legends and young talented # Virat Kohli & #Sarfraj khan out for 0
Common man failed to understand why we have taken only two Seamers in this wicket pic.twitter.com/7GCh33AqjE
Sarfaraz Khan batting ahead of Rahul does not make sense. Even as Gill was not playing, Rahul should have batted at No.3 bcz he has scored good runs as a top order batter. Naturally a top order who was thrown down to 6 bcz of team combination
— Sports syncs (@moiz_sports) October 17, 2024
Rishabh Pant and R Ashwin are currently in the middle, aiming to help the team bounce back.