India’s frail batting lineup once again faltered in the 147-run chase against New Zealand in the final Test of the series, with a top-order collapse threatening to hand them a clean-sweep defeat at home. The chase started poorly as skipper Rohit Sharma fell early, mistiming a pull shot against Matt Henry and setting the tone for a challenging morning. Things took a more concerning turn when Shubman Gill, who had displayed impressive resilience in the first innings with a vital 90, misjudged a delivery from Ajaz Patel.
Expecting the ball to spin away, Gill shouldered arms, only to watch it go straight and shatter his stumps. The dismissal left India with a sinking feeling, as they lost a crucial pillar of their batting lineup for just 1. The dismissal hurt India significantly as Gill stood tall despite pressure in the first innings, scoring a brilliant 90 to help India secure a slender 28-run lead.
Sunil Gavaskar, the India batting legend who was on-air during the dismissal, was not impressed with Gill’s decision-making and expressed his frustration at the youngster.
“How many times have we seen Gill get out leaving the ball. To spinners, to fast bowlers… judgment of which ball to leave, which ball to play is something he will have to work on,” Gavaskar said.
India’s fortunes went from bad to worse following the dismissal of Gill, as the side lost Virat Kohli roughly an over later. Kohli’s poor form has been a point of concern ever since the batter returned to action after the T20 World Cup high, failing to make a mark in both, the ODI and Test formats.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, too, was dismissed cheaply for 5 while Sarfaraz Khan handed his wicket rather easily, getting dismissed on a full toss for just 1.
India’s troubles with bat
India have had a poor outing with the bat throughout the series, and it didn’t change on the morning of Day 3 despite the side chasing only 147 to win and salvage pride. The side has already lost the three-match series, conceding big losses in the first and second Test.
With another loss, India will not only endure a horrific home series clean-sweep, but will also lose their top standing in the World Test Championship standings, thus making it further difficult to qualify for the final next year.
