The Indian team hit rock bottom in Bengaluru’s overcast conditions on Day 2 of the opening Test against New Zealand on Thursday. For the first time in the illustrious history of cricket, India lost four batters for a duck out of the top seven in a home Test. Virat Kohli (0 off 9), KL Rahul (0 off 6), Sarfaraz Khan (0 off 3) and Ravindra Jadeja (0 off 6) returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. Overall, India had five ducks in their list of batters after Ravichandran Ashwin was sent back for a golden duck on the first ball of the second session. After India captain Rohit Sharma departed cheaply, the scorching deliveries from New Zealand pacers continued to unsettle Indian, leading to a mouth-watering contest between the bat and the ball.
I blame Rohit Sharma for India’s Collapse, he chose to bat first in overcast conditions against New Zealand. It was a complete captaincy blunder.#INDvNZ
have some shame and take retirement asap @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/aBW66GApMi
— sridha (@sweetsridha) October 17, 2024
O’Rourke silenced the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium by extracting extra bounce from the surface with his bounce, taking Kohli by surprise.
Rohit Sharma checking the pitch yesterday and still choosing to bat is blunder…..#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/zpUBF1jTZL
— Helioseid (@helioseidmail) October 17, 2024
The Indian stalwart tried to defend the ball off his toes but ended up gloving it to Glenn Phillips, who came flying from leg gully to take a stunning catch. This was Kohli’s first duck in 32 innings, with his last coming against the same opposition in 2021 at Wankhede.
After winning the toss, Rohit told his team, ‘We are going to bat first in these juicy bowling conditions. Bumrah and Siraj, you also pad up.’
— Ramki (@ramkid) October 17, 2024
Sarfaraz, who got his much-awaited opportunity, slapped the ball with the bottom edge of the bat. Devon Conway sprang to his right at extra cover to complete a screamer of a catch.
KL Rahul came in and was welcomed by O’Rourke by smashing the ball straight into the Indian’s glove. With Rahul rattled, O’Rourke came back in his next over to take the rewards for his efforts.
With India itching to score runs, O’Rourke lured Rahul into making a blunder and tickled the ball down to Blundell’s left. With Rahul becoming the third batter to register a duck for India, Ravindra Jadeja became the fourth to enter the list following a miscued shot.
With five ducks in their bucket, India’s tail-end tried to put up a fight, which was to no avail. India eventually folded on 46.
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