In a rare home defeat, Rohit Sharma acknowledged India's struggle to counter spin on a tricky Pune pitch, leading to the first home Test series loss in 12 years. Sharma emphasized the need to develop diverse run-scoring strategies to challenge spinners like Mitchell Santner, who played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s 113-run win with a match haul of 13 wickets. The defeat has sparked conversations around improving India’s batting approach against spin on home soil.
Reflecting on the performance, Sharma discussed the necessity of using innovative shots, such as sweeps, reverse sweeps, and paddles, to alter field placements and put pressure on opposition bowlers. “The pitch was not the issue; we just didn’t respond to the challenge,” he said, referring to India's subpar first-innings score of 156, which set up a 103-run deficit against New Zealand’s spinners.
As New Zealand's Santner demonstrated versatility in his spin attack, Sharma admitted that India needed to find effective ways to keep bowlers guessing, such as using strokes that would require fielders to adjust, creating scoring gaps. This approach was notably employed by England’s Ollie Pope, whose innovative strokes against spin helped England to a famous win earlier this year.
Sharma also defended spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, acknowledging their pivotal role in India's previous home dominance but insisting on a collective team responsibility. “It’s not just up to Ashwin and Jadeja to deliver wins. We must support them with better contributions across the batting unit,” he stated.
While acknowledging that India has set high standards for home performance, Sharma called for a balanced view of this rare setback. He emphasized that while this loss is disappointing, it does not signal a need to change the entire playing system, but rather to focus on improving adaptability in batting tactics against spin.
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