Former India batsman VVS Laxman was worried about Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah's form and said that they are the biggest talking points of the New Zealand series and not anything else. India lost the two-match Test series 2-0 and the ODI series 3-0 despite making a bright start the in the T20I series, which they won 5-0.
During the tour of New Zealand, Kohli managed just 218 runs from 9 matches including 38 runs in four innings in Test cricket with a highest score of 19. Bumrah, on the other hand, just returned with just 12 wickets from 10 matches across all the formats as India were whitewashed in two of the three series.
Kohli's top score has been 51 in the series while Bumrah's took three wickets twice in an innings -- one each in T20Is and Tests. And, Laxman feels that this an area of concern for India.
"The biggest talking point on this tour right from the one-day series to these two Test matches has been the form of two very important players - Virat Kohli in the batting department and Jasprit Bumrah in the bowling department," Laxman said in the post-match show on Star Sports.
Kohli's scores in New Zealand Tests are 2, 19, 3, 14 and he has the lowest-ever average in an away Test series at 9.50 ever.
"Virat Kohli's form has definitely been the biggest letdown for the Indian team because when your top batsman, probably the best in the world, averages 9 (9.50 to be precise) in the two Test matches, I think it is going to be tough for the visiting side. They didn't show any fight in the Tests," Laxman added.
However, Laxman did praise Bumrah for his bowling in Christchurch.
"Bumrah was brilliant (in Christchurch), the consistency with which he bowled those deliveries on the good length was brilliant. He was building the pressure, the wickets column will not do justice to the way he built that pressure on the New Zealand opening batsmen. Bumrah was at his best today," he said.
