Team India suffered its worst home performance, getting bowled out for just 46 runs in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday. Five Indian batters, including star players Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan, were dismissed without scoring. The abysmal display prompted even former head coach Ravi Shastri to take a jab at the batting unit.
While commentating on the match, Shastri mocked Kohli and the other batters on a couple of occasions. When the team’s scorecard was displayed on the broadcaster’s screen, he took a swipe at Kohli and the others who were dismissed for ducks, referring to them as a “duck party.”
He remarked, “When you look at that scorecard, it feels like there’s a duck party going on—five ducks!”
Later, when the camera focused on Kohli, Sarfaraz, and Rahul standing in the slips during New Zealand’s batting, Shastri reiterated the duck theme.
“It’s unprecedented in India—a lowest score of 46, and all three of them in slips are out for ducks,” he commented.
In the post-match press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged his misjudgment regarding the pitch.
“I’m feeling a bit hurt because I made that decision. We found ourselves bowled out for just 46 runs, and as captain, it definitely stings to see that figure,” Rohit said during the post-match press conference.
“Clearly, it was a misjudgment of the pitch. I didn’t assess the conditions well enough, and now we’re in this situation. Over the course of a year, you might make two or three poor calls, and that’s perfectly normal,” he lamented.
