Tactically for Rohit Sharma, this Test match wasn't his greatest: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Rohit Sharma wasn't at his tactical best during India's eight-wicket defeat in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. On Sunday, October 20, the Kiwis made light work of the 107-run target to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

Some of Rohit's calls in the Test match have been criticised, starting from his decision to bat first after winning the toss under overcast conditions and on a damp surface. India failed to break New Zealand's decisive 137-run eighth wicket stand in the first innings between Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee and Rohit once again received flak for some of his bowling changes.

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On Sunday, when India were in desperate need of wickets to put the Blackcaps under pressure, Rohit brought on his premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin when New Zealand needed only 10 runs to win. The Mumbai batter opted to bowl Mohammed Siraj for seven overs across two spells and the seamer did not cause too much trouble to the New Zealanders.

After India's first defeat to New Zealand in 36 years, Manjrekar highlighted some of the tactical errors of the Indian team during his analysis.

"The thing with pacers, you might get wickets, but there are always runs coming through edges. I was a bit surprised, I think tactically for Rohit Sharma, this Test match wasn't his greatest. I can understand Siraj getting one or two overs and Bumrah getting a long spell. But Siraj getting 6 overs in that forespell, I think that is far too many and already a lot of runs on the board, and you had that little margin to chase," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

"And another part is Aswhin. When there is no lavish turn on the pitch, the captain tends to use him with a new ball. He would have been tough for the Kiwi batters had he started off with Bumrah, and even if he had come in in the fourth over of the inning," Manjrekar added.

It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings: Rohit Sharma

After the match, Rohit praised the fightback shown by his team with the bat in the second innings as they overhauled New Zealand's gigantic 356-run lead.

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"It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings. We didn't bat well in the first innings. So knew what was ahead and couple of guys stood out. When you are 350 behind you can't think too much about it. just got to see the ball and bat. Couple of partnerships were really exciting to watch and got us back in the game. We could have easily been bowled out cheaply but proud of the effort," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.