Team India pacer Mohammed Shami has defended Rohit Sharma, who has come under criticism after the hosts suffered a crushing loss to New Zealand in the opening Test in Bengaluru. The 34-year-old stated that luck is bound to go the other way on some occasion as India play matches throughout the year.
The veteran opening batter came under plenty of criticism for his decisions against the Kiwis, starting from the toss, team selections, and letting the opposition’s tail run away with the contest. Having been bowled out for 46 on day 2, the tourists took a 356-run lead. India fought back admirably well, but New Zealand only had 107 to chase down and did it with aplomb.
Speaking on a video uploaded by Gujarat Samachar on X, the right-arm seamer remarked:
“Ek bad day toh ho hee sakta hai. Kyunki aap saal bhar cricket khel rahe ho, aisa nahin hai limited khel rahe ho, aap hamesha rotate mein khel rahe ho. Toh ek na ek din bad day ho hee sakta hai. Aap ka luck kharab ho hee sakta hai. Jahan tak kaptaani ka sawaal hai, aap result dekho na. World Cup jeete hain, 2023 mein bhi final mein they. Usse pehle bhi series jitaayi. Toh question mark toh hona hee nahin chahiye.”
(One bad day can happen to anyone. You are playing cricket throughout the year and not for a limited time. So, luck can go the other way. As far as captaincy goes, look at the results. We have won the World Cup and went to the final in 2023. Even before that, we won many bilateral series. So, there should be no question mark.
Mohammad Shami એ ભારતની હાર બાદ કેપ્ટન Rohit Sharma નો પક્ષ લીધો, જુઓ શું કહી દીધું | IND vs NZ#MohammadShami #RohitSharma #INDvsNZ #Cricket #Sports #GScard #GujaratSamachar pic.twitter.com/sh13zHRv5G
— Gujarat Samachar (@gujratsamachar) October 21, 2024
“A lot of good things that happened as well along with the three-four hours of bad cricket” – Rohit Sharma
Following the eight-wicket loss to the Black Caps, Rohit opined that three hours of poor cricket cannot define this side and that India always come back hard when pushed into the corner. Rohit said in the post-match presentation:
“I am not going to look too much into this Test match honestly because those three hours are not going to dictate what this team is. Even here, there are a lot of good things that happened as well along with the three-four hours of bad cricket. I think it’s important to keep a consistent message in the group, which is that whenever we are put under pressure, we try to make a way into the game in whatever possible way – that is what we have been talking about
