Rohit Sharma on losing to New Zealand in 1st Test: 'Games like these happen. We will take the positives and move forward'

India captain Rohit Sharma put up a brave face after the hosts suffered their first Test loss to New Zealand at home in 36 years. On Sunday, New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets to win their first Test in India since 1988. The biggest reason behind India’s defeat was their getting out on just 46 in the first innings on Day 2 of the Test match after the first day was washed out.

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Rohit, however, doesn’t want to dwell on the disappointing performance for long and emphasised this during the post-match presentation, stating that “games like these happen” but the team is focused on moving on quickly and staging a comeback.

“I said in my press conference after Day 2 that we knew it will be sticky early on and challenged with the overcast conditions but we didn’t expect to be out under 50. New Zealand bowled pretty well and challenged every corner of our bat and we failed to respond to that. Games like these happen,” Rohit said.

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“We will take the positives and move forward. There are guys who have been in this situation before. We lost a game against England and won four games after that. Two Test matches to go and we know exactly what is needed from each one of us. We will try and put our best game forward.”

The captain was also full of praise for Sarfaraz Khan who hit his maiden Test hundred in Bengaluru and Rishabh Pant who scored a valiant 99 to help India eventually set a 107-run target in a match where it once looked like the hosts would lose by an innings.

“It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings. We didn’t bat well in the first innings. So knew what was ahead and 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. Couple of partnerships were really exciting to watch and got us back in the game.” Rohit added.

“We could have easily been bowled out cheaply but proud of the effort. Everyone is on the edge of the seat when those two (Sarfaraz and Pant) are playing. They like the play the game which has got them success. Rishabh, with the way he bats he takes a lot of risks but I thought it was mature innings in the game. Defended good balls and left a few balls and then backed himself to play those shots as well.

“Sarfaraz showed great maturity as well. He is only playing his 4th Test match and to show that kind of maturity and very clear in his mind what shots he wanted to play.”