Rohit Sharma’s captaincy faced heavy criticism from former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Murali Kartik as New Zealand neared a historic series win.
Throughout the New Zealand series, Rohit’s leadership has come under scrutiny. He admitted his mistake in assessing the pitch conditions during the first Test in Bengaluru. This misjudgment led to India’s lowest total at home and their first loss to New Zealand in 36 years.
Things only worsened in the second Test. Rohit’s ‘defensive’ captaincy on Day 1 in Pune drew sharp criticism from Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, and Simon Doull. The issues persisted during New Zealand’s second innings on Day 2.
After a disastrous batting performance in the morning, where India lost six wickets and were bowled out for 156 in under an hour, Rohit opted for spin from both ends. While using off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar made sense given the pitch conditions, his field placements raised concerns.
New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway quickly took advantage, playing aggressively and disrupting the spinners’ rhythm. Rohit’s response to remove the close-in fielders after just a couple of overs illustrated the growing pressure on his captaincy.
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