India vs New Zealand: Wagging tail, batting collapses - 3 reasons why India lost the 1st Test in Wellington | Opinion | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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India vs New Zealand: Wagging tail, batting collapses - 3 reasons why India lost the 1st Test in Wellington | Opinion

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Feb 24, 2020 12:49 PM IST

IND vs NZ | Captain Virat Kohli did say after the match that the Indian team will learn from the mistakes and carry on in the second match

Trent Boult and Tim Southee made the old ball talk at the Basin Reserve and India lost their final six wickets for 47 runs to surrender the 1st India vs New Zealand Test match. Captain Virat Kohli did say after the match that the Indian team will learn from the mistakes and carry on in the second match. However, there needs to be few changes made to the tactics and the side needs to rectify the mistakes made by them in Wellington.

Plenty of questions face Virat Kohli and team(Getty Images)
Plenty of questions face Virat Kohli and team(Getty Images)

We take a look at the big takeaways and 3 big reasons why India lost this match:

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Opening stand is a concern

Prithvi Shaw has few technical flaws which were exposed in Wellington. The Indian management will back him and he will get another go in Christchurch, but his form and presence at the top of the order will be under the scanner.

“You don’t want to be too hard on the guys because Prithvi [Shaw] has played only two innings away from home now, and he will figure it out. He will find ways of scoring runs. He is a natural stroke-maker, and he will find ways of scoring runs and putting up good starts for us more often than not,” Kohli said after the match.

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The ability of the openers to withstand the new-ball attack will go a long way in determining the context of the next match and this will be a big lesson for the side.

The wagging tail

Yes, India lost the toss, yes, they batted first on an extremely tough surface, and yes, they bowled when the pitch had evened out and there was not too much assistance for the bowlers. But the bowling group will put their hands up and acknowledge that they could have fared better and they could have been more adaptive to conditions.

This was one of the reasons why New Zealand ran away with the match. In their first innings, the final three wickets added 132 runs and this changed the complexion of the match completely. This has been India’s biggest problem in overseas conditions and the management and the bowling group need to figure out a way to wipe off the tail.

New Zealand bowlers resorted to short-pitched stuff on the third day and this put a lot of pressure on the Indian batsmen and this what the Indian contingent should learn when they take the field in Christchurch.

“I think overall we really did put in a good effort but we still could be a lot more disciplined. That’s something the bowlers have recognised themselves. That’s not something that needs to be pointed out to them anymore,” Kohli said after the match.

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Arresting collapses

In both the innings, India were in decent position, but they collapsed to hand the advantage to New Zealand. When day 4 started, India were at 144 for 4, but then lost their last six wickets for 47 runs to cede the match. This has been a problem with the Indian team, especially in overseas conditions and this needs to be taken into consideration.

“As a batting unit, we take a lot of pride in being competitive, and we were just not competitive enough. I don’t think we put their bowlers under enough pressure in the first innings,” Kohli confessed after the match.

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