By: Drcricket7 Staff
Both Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara should scored centuries after doing the initial hardwork for India. Undoubtedly, it was a good toss to win, but a few of the top-order batsmen weren’t as successful.
Yes, the Pujara-Vijay pair did contribute a 112-run stand for the second wicket, but India could have certainly done better than 291 for 9. Especially, after they won the toss and batted first.
At the start of the innings, opener KL Rahul did get a start but couldn’t translate it into a big knock. Even captain Virat Kohli looked was out after punching two shots to the fence. Rahane too made 18.
In the lower-middle order Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin did put together a combined effort to strength their team’s cause. It wasn’t good enough for a team, which was playing in front of the home crowd.
In other words, the entire Indian team missed out to have a perfect start to their 500th Test. With scores like 166 and 256* in the Duleep Trophy, a lot was expected out of Pujara, who was quite positive with his footwork.
What hurt India the most is how they rewarded wickets to New Zealand. The Blackcaps did bowl well, but they weren’t always on the money. India could have batted much better.
