Set a target of 147 runs on the Wankhede pitch, the Indian team was bowled out for 121 runs in 29.1 overs, making it the lowest target to be successfully defended against them on home soil. Rishabh Pant (64), who scored half-centuries in both innings, was the only batsman who showed some fight, while Shubman Gill (90) was the top scorer in India's first innings. “@ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and @RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings – his footwork made complete difference to the challenging surface. He was brilliant,” Tendulkar said.
Terming it a terrible performance by Rohit Sharma's team, former India opener Sehwag wrote on Instagram: “While it is mandatory as supporters to support the team, this has been a terrible performance from our team. Playing spin. The skills definitely need improvement and some experimentation is good for the shorter formats, but doing some unnecessary experiments in Test cricket was really bad. “Congratulations to Tom Latham and his @blackcapsnz boys for doing what every The visiting team is a dream team and no one else can win like this.”
The crushing defeat not only removed India from the top of the World Test Championship standings, but also exposed serious cracks in their batting against spin as New Zealand's spinners took 37 of the 57 Indian wickets. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner led the way with 13 wickets in the second Test in Pune and in his absence in Mumbai due to a side strain, Ajaz Patel performed exceptionally well with 11 wickets. Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said that “anybody can get anybody out” on such pitches and teams do not need stalwarts like Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne or Saqlain Mushtaq to take wickets.
“Turning pitches is becoming your own enemy
#INDvsNZTEST Congratulations New Zealand beat us. Have been saying this for many years. Team India needs to play on better pitches. These turning pitches are making every batsman look very ordinary,” Harbhajan wrote on These pitches have been prepared for 2/3 day test matches. You don't need Murali, Warne or Saki to bowl out teams on these pitches. Anybody can get anybody out.” Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan cited the lack of red-ball cricket for India's senior batsmen as one of the reasons for the defeat.
“This is a shameful performance by Team India on home ground. A lot to think about for the decision makers. Congratulations to New Zealand on this brilliant performance. “Had a good chat with @iamyusufpathan bhai yesterday. He made a right point about domestic cricket. We are playing either on grass pitches or on flat tracks, but also, the top players are not playing domestic cricket and it may hurt us in the long run. ” Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said, “And with this we have come to the end of a long period of rank turners in India.” Reactions also came from foreign countries, with former England captain Michael Vaughan saying that Indian batsmen now struggle against spin like most teams.
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