Team India display grit at Chinnaswamy after 46 all out, but first Test proves a reality check

Tom Latham, and the rest of New Zealand, will attest that the long wait was definitely worth it. After nearly 36 years – their last win on Indian soil came in November 1988, at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium – the Kiwis finally tasted success  in a land where, in the last 11 years, only England and Australia had previously ended up on the winning side.

In his first outing as full-time captain, Latham didn’t have a significant individual contribution with the bat, but he oversaw a fantastic campaign from his charges at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The excellent Sub-Air drainage system , the Garden City’s pride and joy, eventually worked to New Zealand’s advantage because despite plenty of time lost, including the entire first day’s play, the first Test was done and dusted inside the first session on Sunday’s final day, the visitors romping home by eight wickets.

India vs New Zealand 1st Test:   As it happened

Overnight and early morning rain delayed the start of the last day’s play by an hour, and Jasprit Bumrah sparked a frisson of excitement when he packed off Latham with the second delivery on resumption with New Zealand yet to open their account. There was plenty of help for Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj with the ball nipping around and the uneven bounce adding to the batter’s discomfiture, energising India in their bid to grab what would have been possibly their most famous victory.

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Ravindra and Young steer Kiwis to win with clam partnerhsip

A target of 107, however, wasn’t quite going to be adequate to defend unless large slices of luck fell India’s way. That didn’t happen. Even though both the quicker bowlers repeatedly got past the outside edge of Devon Conway and Will Young, there was no precipitous collapse from which there would be no comeback. To their credit, Conway and Young were willing to gut it out, and they flattened India’s hopes with every dead-batted defensive stroke and the occasional boundary.

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Rohit Sharma had to balance the twin requirements of not over-attacking and therefore conceding easy runs but also picking up wickets in a hurry, but he didn’t find great joy in either endeavour. India couldn’t be faulted for effort in the first hour or so, during which they finally ended Conway’s dogged resistance, again through a Bumrah leg before. At 35 for two, the Promised Land 72 runs away, India sensed a sniff, but the man who baulked them in the first innings was at it again with a pleasing cameo full of authoritative, commanding strokes.

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This could well be Rachin Ravindra’s coming-of-age Test. In Galle last month, he narrowly failed to take the Kiwis past the winning post against Sri Lanka when the task was a lot stiffer. This time, coming off his brilliant hundred on Friday, he settled any nerves in the Kiwi camp by immediately playing his strokes without inhibition. Ravindra didn’t have to manufacture them; he put away even perfectly good deliveries without taking any risks, while Young opened his shoulders from time to time to pick up handsome boundaries off his own as Bumrah rested after an eight-over burst, Siraj came off after six probing but unrewarded overs and the spinners were brought into operation.

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Ravindra’s footwork against spin is delightful and he once again reaffirmed his great class against Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. In the blink of an eye, the scoreboard started to accelerate, India’s in-out fields unable to staunch the bleeding. R Ashwin has been all his captains’ go-to bowler at home for more than a decade now but he wasn’t pressed into service until only ten were required primarily because whatever rough there was called to be exploited by the left-arm finger spin of Jadeja more than the right-arm off-spin of the Tamil Nadu virtuoso.

India show a lot of heart in Bengaluru

To somehow turn the tables after being bowled out for just 46 on the second morning, and with only 107 to defend on the last, was akin to impossible. India did show a lot of heart and fight during their second innings through their top five, but once Sarfaraz Khan was dismissed for 150, the bottom caved in with seven wickets going down for just 54. That must be a source of concern within the India ranks, especially with Australia’s tall quicks lying in wait to exploit bouncy and carry in their backyard next month. But India can ill afford right now to look that far ahead. This loss is a reality check, especially given that it is India’s second defeat in the first Test of a series at home this year in three attempts, after the battering at the hands of Ollie Pope and England in Hyderabad in January. Are Rohit’s team becoming notoriously poor starters?

Pune from Thursday will give the Indians an immediate chance to bounce back with a vengeance. Crucial World Test Championship points have been squandered and even though there are seven Tests to go in this cycle, five are Down Under and suddenly, the picture isn’t as rosy anymore as it was a week back.

New Zealand will savour this win for a long time. They arrived in India on the back of a 2-0 lashing in Sri Lanka last month, without their best batter of all-time, Kane Williamson, and after a leadership shakeup once Tim Southee resigned after the Lankan misadventure. They hit it lucky in the sense that the conditions suited their type of bowling and India somewhat played into their hands by opting to bat on a damp pitch under overcast skies on Thursday. But what is it that they say about making one’s own luck?