India's dream unbeaten streak at home came to an end after losing the second Test match against New Zealand in Pune on Saturday. The Kiwis registered an impressive 113-run win on Day 3 to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series to shatter India's run at home.
Rohit Sharma's men showed very little desire to fight back in the second innings and stumbled to 245 while chasing a tough 359-run target at the MCA Stadium. India lacked runs in the opening two Tests while the pacers failed to contribute much as they did against Bangladesh in the last Test assignment.
Rohit pointed out the lack of runs and Indian batter's 'failed response to challenges' across both innings. The Indian captain also praised New Zealand's batting performance and added that the Men in Blue will make a stronger comeback in the third match in Mumbai starting on November 1.
"It is not what we expected and New Zealand played better cricket than us," Rohit Sharma said during the post-match presentation in Pune. "We failed to respond to challenges and we sit here with that result. I don't think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You have to take 20 wickets, but the batters have to put runs on the board as well. We did not put in enough runs and then conceded a 100-run lead. It was a fightback from us, but it was always going to be challenging.
"We thought we could chase but with the continuous challenges, we could not cope. When they started off, they were 200 for 3 and for us to come back and bowl them 259 was great. It was not a pitch where a lot was happening, but we did not bat well enough. They played better. Looking forward, we want to show up at Wankhede and win that Test. It is a collective failure. The team has failed to accept the challenge thrown at us."
Meanwhile, India suffered their first-ever Test series loss against England at home and against any team since December 2012. India was enjoying a record 18-series win run at home in Test cricket and lost their only third red-ball game in 2024.
