"We Failed To...": Disappointed Rohit Sharma's Blunt Message After India's 'Collective Failure' vs NZ

Rohit Sharma was a disappointed man after India lost the second Test of a three-match series against New Zealand. This is India first Test series defeat at home in 12 years with Mitchel Santner yet again exposing their frailties against quality spin bowling as the crushing 113-run defeat in the second match enervated the team's pole position in the World Test Championship. If the hosts endured their first defeat after 18 consecutive Test series victories, New Zealand celebrated their first ever series-victory on the Indian soil in nearly 70 years.

Rohit said India failed to respond to challenges against New Zealand.

"Disappointing. It's not what we expected. Got to give credit to NZ - they played better than us. We failed to capitalise on certain moments. We failed to respond to those challenges. And we sit here today. Didn't think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You've got to pick 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board," Rohit Sharma said after the match.

"Was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd but we knew it was going to be challenging. When they started off, they were 200/3 and for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. Wasn't a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn't bat well enough. Things would've been slightly different had we got a bit closer in the first innings. We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that Test. It's a collective failure. I'm not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers. We will come out with better intent, better ideas and better methods at Wankhede."

The Kiwis have been travelling to this part of the world since 1955 but Black Caps could never break the Indian citadel all