New Delhi: New Zealand defeated Team India by 113 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The Blackcaps won their first-ever Test series in India while the Men in Blue lost their first Test series on home soil since 2012.
Tom Latham and Co. were under a lot of pressure before coming to India for the three-match Test series, as they were hammered in Sri Lanka by 2-0. Hence, New Zealand’s series win against India is remarkable.
‘Indian management and players were overconfident’: Basit Ali
Speaking on his YouTube Channel Basit Ali said that Team India thought that they would beat New Zealand easily and Indian players were overconfident. He further added that the Kiwis did their homework and they had nothing to lose. He also said that no one in the cricketing world would have thought that the Blackcaps might be able to defeat India.
“The match India won against Bangladesh in two days and New Zealand’s 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, the team might have thought they would beat the Kiwis easily. This means, Indian management and players were overconfident. No one would have thought that the Kiwis might be able to defeat India. Even New Zealand themselves wouldn’t have thought of something like this. But they did their homework” said Basit Ali on his YouTube channel.
Indian batters failed to perform in first two Test matches
In the second Test, India were chasing a 359-run target to level the series but only managed to score 245 runs in their second innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 77 runs off 65 balls and was the highest run scorer but the other Indian batters failed to score big runs while chasing the massive total.
Rohit Sharma and Co. were bowled out for just 156 runs in their first innings of the second Test in Pune. The Men in Blue also bundled out for just 46 runs in their first innings of the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru and also suffered a batting collapse after getting a good start in the second innings.