Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that Rohit Sharma will not take this Test series loss against New Zealand lightly. Rohit Sharma-led India lost a three-Test match series against Blackcaps taking 2-0 lead. This was India's first Test defeat on home soil after 12 years.
Shastri was the part of commentary panel during the Pune Test where New Zealand defeated India by the 113 runs said that India captain will not take this loss lightly.
"Rohit Sharma is a proud man. He will not take it lightly. Let me assure you of that. His body language might suggest that he's very relaxed. But deep down, he'll be hurting and hurting big. Not just with him but with every Indian player in that dressing room," said Ravi Shastri.
Rohit Sharma faced significant criticism for his defensive captaincy in the second Test against New Zealand, where he managed only 8 runs. Commentators, including Dinesh Karthik, Ravi Shastri, and Ian Smith, pointed out that Rohit allowed the Kiwi batters to easily take singles and rotate the strike.
Dinesh Karthik for Rohit Sharma
After the match, Dinesh Karthik remarked that Rohit's performance as captain was not up to par.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said, "Not at his best. I thought he had a very tough Test match, he did all he could. I could see there was a lot of pressure on him, add to the fact, that he did not get many runs as well. So overall, it was not a great Test match. He will reflect and think, 'what could I have done better? Was I a reactive captain or a pro-active captain?'"
"There is a fine line, this Test match was one where he was chasing the ball a little bit. He tried his best with whatever he could, but you have to say it wasn't the best game for either him or Team India," he added.
The third Test match between India and New Zealand is scheduled to start from November 1 to 4 at iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after that the Men in Blue will travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
