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India captain Rohit Sharma continued to struggle with the bat as his outing was cut short by Santner in the second innings.
Mitchell Santner dismissed Rohit Sharma in India’s chase of 359 in Pune Test
New Zealand outsmarted Team India in the second Test by 113 runs in Pune on Saturday, scripting a first-ever series win on Indian soil. The Black Caps also ended India’s streak of 18 series wins at home and put their World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification in jeopardy. India’s batting was yet again exposed by a quality spin attack in the chase of 359. Mitchell Santner led the charge with a 13-wicket match haul, picking up back-to-back fifers in the game.
India’s second essay kicked off on a positive note with openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal adding 34 runs for the first wicket in the first five overs. However, the Indian skipper continued to struggle with the bat as his outing was cut short by Santner.
Rohit took a couple of steps down the line, trying to reach the pitch of the delivery. However, the extra bounce took the Indian captain by surprise. He tried to fend off the delivery but was only able to edge it to Will Young at short leg.
Former India head coach Anil Kumble decoded Rohit’s dismissal while speaking on Jio Cinema.
“He played the reverse sweep and he also stepped out. He used all the options, unfortunately for him it was seen by Santner early and then he bowled it slightly shorter and then it bounced to Rohit Sharma,” explained Kumble.
“I thought the intent was right but of course, it was well bowled by Santner.
“We should also give credit to Santner because he saw him coming. The one advantage that Santner has is he releases the ball really late and that probably helped him in seeing Rohit come at him and drop length a little bit,” concluded the legendary spinner.
This loss marks India’s first home Test series defeat since England’s Alastair Cook-led squad overcame the hosts 2-1 back in 2012. Across these 12 years, India played 18 Test series, figuring in 52 Test matches, winning 42 of them, losing four, and drawing six.
The series against New Zealand ended the fairytale as the series opener in Bengaluru set the tone. Dismissed for a meagre 46 in overcast conditions in the first innings, India found themselves under early pressure.
New Zealand capitalised on their advantage with Rachin Ravindra’s steady century and a timely contribution from Tim Southee, establishing control despite a fighting century by Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant’s 99 in a counter-attack.
