India have registered an embarrassing record in the first Test against New Zealand. After opting to bat first in overcast conditions, the hosts are in a complete mess losing nine wickets with hardly any runs on the board. The only positive is that the team has crossed the 36-run mark which is their lowest total in Test cricket.
As far as the record is concerned, four of the top seven Indian batters - Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja - bagged a duck for the first time at home in cricket history. Overall, this has happened for the third time for India in the longest format of the game with the last instance coming in 2014 against England in Manchester.
4 of the top 7 Indian batters scoring ducks in a Test innings
vs ENG, Leeds, 1952 (3rd inns)
vs ENG, Manchester, 2014 (1st inns)
vs NZ, Bengaluru, 2024 (1st inns)*
Not many would've given New Zealand even a chance at the start of the Test match but the overcast conditions have clearly suited them. In hindsight, Rohit Sharma's decision at the toss is questionable as William O'Rourke, Matt Henry and Tim Southee have put India on the mat with the batters not able to handle excessive swing and bounce. Five of India's batters have bagged a duck with Ravichandran Ashwin also getting added to the list after being dismissed on the first ball.
Only two batters - Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) and Rishabh Pant (20) have managed to cross the 10-run mark and this batting effort has certainly brought back the dead memories of 36 all-out in Adelaide three years. It remains to be seen if India will be able to bounce back not only in this Test with more than three days of play still left.
Moreover, the onus will now be on the bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah to pick wickets as the conditions are still suitable for the fast bowlers. However, India have just picked two of them preferring three spinners in their playing XI.
More to follow...
