Rohit Sharma Reflects on Pune Defeat: "We Didn’t Put Enough Runs on the Board"

In the wake of India's 113-run defeat to New Zealand in Pune, which marked their first home-series loss in 12 years, captain Rohit Sharma pointed to a key factor: the batting lineup's inability to match New Zealand's first-innings score of 259. Rohit acknowledged that the team's performance fell short, particularly in the first innings, where India was bowled out for just 156, conceding a 103-run lead that set the tone for the rest of the match.

Mitchell Santner was instrumental in India's downfall, taking 7 for 53 in the first innings and following it up with 6 for 104 in the second. Despite a spirited effort from Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 77 runs off 65 balls, India couldn't keep pace with New Zealand's challenging target of 359, ultimately falling well short.

"I didn't think we batted well enough to get runs on the board," Rohit said during the post-match presentation. "Of course, if you want to win Test matches, you've got to take 20 wickets, but batters have got to put runs on the board as well. We didn’t put enough runs on the board in the first innings, and then we were behind in the game."

Rohit praised his bowlers for their efforts, particularly after New Zealand's strong start at 197 for 3. "I thought it was a great effort to restrict them to 259," he explained. "But we just didn’t bat well enough. If we had gotten closer to that score in the first innings, things would have been slightly different."

With India now trailing 2-0 in the series, they head to the third Test in Mumbai under pressure to avoid a whitewash in a home series of three or more Tests. The team must also focus on gathering points for the upcoming five-match series in Australia and the World Test Championship final race, though Rohit emphasized the need to concentrate on the immediate challenge.

"We want to show up well at Wankhede and try to win that Test match," he stated. "We’re not thinking too far ahead. It’s important that we focus on our next game and what better we can do as a unit. It’s a collective failure; I won’t just blame the batters or the bowlers. It’s the team that has failed to accept the challenge that was thrown at us."

Rohit assured fans that the team would approach the next Test with "better intent, better ideas, and better methods." As the pressure mounts, all eyes will be on India to deliver a strong performance and bounce back in the series.