Rohit Sharma admits he failed to read the Bengaluru pitch

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that he failed to read the Bengaluru pitch on Day two of the first Test against New Zealand on October 17 (Thursday). Winning the toss and opting first after the first day was washed out, India were bowled out for 46, their lowest-ever total at home in Tests. 

“We thought it wouldn't help seamers much after the first session or so. There wasn't much grass either. We thought it would be flat. It was a misjudgement and I couldn't read the pitch well,” Rohit said in the press conference at the end of Day 2. 

Rohit said that in hindsight, anybody can say that India made mistakes in every department, but the intent of the players was like always. 

“On a pitch where there was assistance for seamers, and now that we got out for 46, you can say the shot selection wasn't up to the mark. It was a bad day. Sometimes you want to do something but could not execute it,” he said. 

Saying that India were surely not at their best in the field, Rohit joked that even journalists have bad days in the office. “We can have a bad day on the field,” he added. 

It was expected that in the absence of  Shubman Gill, KL Rahul would be sent up the order. If not Rahul, at least Sarfaraz Khan would be entrusted with the new role for this game. 

Explaining why Virat Kohli was promoted up the order, Rohit said, “We don't want to touch KL's batting position much. He has found a place at 6 so let's give him a rope there. 

Same with Sarfaraz, we wanted to give him a similar position where he bats. So Virat was the one who wanted to take the responsibility.”

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