Former India coach Ravi Shastri felt that captain Rohit Sharma's tactics on Day 2 of the second Test against New Zealand were really wayward.

India were bowled out for 156 in their first innings, handing New Zealand a 103-run lead. New Zealand reached 85/2 by tea in their second innings, increasing their advantage by leaps and bounds. Shastri, on commentary, pointed out that Rohit missed some opportunities to set aggressive field placements even when India were facing an all-round big deficit.

Shastri Lashes Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy mistakes:

” Tactically how you should be thinking. India should be thinking how to bowl out New Zealand for 120. For that to happen, you need to think wickets, you need people in attacking positions. Yes, if the side gets to 60 for no loss, you can start to think differently. It also makes the bowl think that he wants wickets, not with a spread out field like this”

Ravi Shastri's Wrath:

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Shastri and former spinner Murali Kartik talked about Rohit’s strategy as Tom Latham and Will Young took New Zealand with confidence to 85/2 at tea while building a lead of 188 runs. Latham (37*) and Young (23) steadied the innings with a 42-run partnership after Devon Conway’s early fall. Earlier, Kiwi spinner Mitchell Santner dismantled India’s batting lineup with career-best figures of 7/53 in 19.3 overs.

New Zealand were 259 for their first innings. India began promisingly with Shubman Gill scoring 30 and Yashasvi Jaiswal building up 30 runs for the second wicket. They, however, lost six for 53 runs, and their position was dented to 107/7 at lunch. Virat Kohli was dismissed for just 1 with a poor shot, and Santner removed Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah later for minimal runs.

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