India vs New Zealand: Batting collapse, wagging tail - 3 big reasons why India lost 2nd Test in Christchurch
Kohli mentioned that his side will identify the mistakes, learn from them and move on. India, the number 1 ranked side in the world, copped a thrashing in Christchurch and conceded the series 2-0.
Team India captain Virat Kohli did not shy away from accepting the fact that his side was outplayed by New Zealand. He also made it a point to mention that his side will identify the mistakes, learn from them and move on. India, the number 1 ranked side in the world, copped a thrashing in Christchurch and conceded the series 2-0. The bowlers were brilliant on day 2, but the collective failure of the batting order meant that the side never had enough runs to play with.
Here in this article, we take a look at three main reasons behind India’s defeat.
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Inability of the opening combination
The new, inexperienced opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw was always going to be under pressure against the quality of the Kiwi bowlers, especially in conditions which favoured them. While both Mayank and Prithvi notched up 50s in two different innings, they were not able to build a solid base which exposed the middle order to the new ball in both the Test matches.
Wagging tail of New Zealand
In both the Test matches, India were in a decent position but then, they struggled to wipe off the tail of New Zealand which wagged in both the matches and added invaluable runs which were the difference between the sides. “I think to win a series away from home, you need to have a balanced performance with both bat and ball and in the field as well. It was something we were not able to do in this series,” Kohli said after the series win and in many ways, he hit the nail on the head.
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Losing wickets in clumps
Even when the conditions were tough and when the bowlers were getting the ball to hoop around, India found batsmen who dug in and added formidable partnership. In the first innings in Christchurch, Hanuma Vihari and Cheteshwar Pujara were solid for the 5th wicket and India, after being asked to bat first on a green wicket, were placed formidably at 194 for 4. This is when Vihari lost his wicket and India were eventually bundled out for 245.
A similar trait was visible in the second innings when the side collapsed from 72 for 3 to 124 all out. This has been a problematic area of India in overseas conditions and something, which needs to resolved as soon as possible.
“If we shy away from it, we’re not going to improve. So we need to accept we were not good enough in this series, we’ve got take it on the chin and improve those things,” Kohli said.
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