We won four against England after losing first Test: Rohit

BENGALURU: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is confident that his team will bounce back from the eight-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the opening Test by winning the next two games, just like it won four on trot against England earlier this year.

India paid the price for getting all out for 46 in the first innings, its lowest-ever total at home, despite special efforts from Sarfaraz Khan (150) and Rishabh Pant (99) in the second essay.

“Games like these happen. We will move forward. We lost a game against England and won four games after that. We know exactly what is needed from each one of us,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

He had been upfront in admitting that he read the conditions wrong but having said that, he never thought India would be bowled out for 46.

“I said in my press conference that we knew it will be sticky early on but we didn’t expect to be out for 46. New Zealand bowled well and we failed to respond to that,” Rohit said.

For the skipper, the silver lining was Sarfaraz and Pant’s approach in the second innings where India scored 462 to set a target of 107.

“It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings. We didn’t bat well in the first innings. So we knew what was ahead and a 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. A couple of partnerships were really exciting to watch. We could have easily been bowled out cheaply but proud of the effort.”

He was really happy that the young duo batted only in the manner they know.

“Everyone is on the edge of the seat when those two bat. Rishabh left a few balls and then played shots. Sarfaraz showed great maturity as well.”

Shami has lengthy bowling session

Senior India pacer Mohammed Shami on Sunday bowled close to an hour at nets without any palpable discomfort, indicating progress in his recovery process after a surgery earlier this year.

Shami came to nets after India’s first Test against New Zealand here, and bowled under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Morne Morkel.

The 34-year-old, whose last outing in national colours was in the ODI World Cup final 2023, bowled to India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar.

After beginning with a short run-up, Shami, whose left leg was bandaged, increased the strides and soon bowled with his full run-up and at good pace, often beating Nayar.

Shami also had a lengthy chat with Morkel once he finished the training session around 4pm.

He also engaged in some light fielding drills.

India skipper Rohit Sharma had said that he does not want to take an “undercooked” Shami to the tour of Australia next month.