'Complete Blunder": India's Tactics Under Fire After Horrible Show Against New Zealand

The Indian team hit rock bottom in Bengaluru's overcast conditions on Day 2 of the opening Test against New Zealand on Thursday. For the first time in the illustrious history of cricket, India lost four batters for a duck out of the top seven in a home Test. Virat Kohli (0 off 9), KL Rahul (0 off 6), Sarfaraz Khan (0 off 3) and Ravindra Jadeja (0 off 6) returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. Overall, India had five ducks in their list of batters after Ravichandran Ashwin was sent back for a golden duck on the first ball of the second session. After India captain Rohit Sharma departed cheaply, the scorching deliveries from New Zealand pacers continued to unsettle Indian, leading to a mouth-watering contest between the bat and the ball.

I blame Rohit Sharma for India's Collapse, he chose to bat first in overcast conditions against New Zealand. It was a complete captaincy blunder.#INDvNZ
have some shame and take retirement asap @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/aBW66GApMi

O'Rourke silenced the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium by extracting extra bounce from the surface with his bounce, taking Kohli by surprise.

Rohit Sharma checking the pitch yesterday and still choosing to bat is blunder.....#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/zpUBF1jTZL

The Indian stalwart tried to defend the ball off his toes but ended up gloving it to Glenn Phillips, who came flying from leg gully to take a stunning catch. This was Kohli's first duck in 32 innings, with his last coming against the same opposition in 2021 at Wankhede.

After winning the toss, Rohit told his team, 'We are going to bat first in these juicy bowling conditions. Bumrah and Siraj, you also pad up.'

Sarfaraz, who got his much-awaited opportunity, slapped the ball with the bottom edge