New Zealand vs India 2020: 3 Indian players who flopped in the Test series
The New Zealand cricket team thrashed the Indian team by 7 wickets in the second Test in Christchurch to complete a 2-0 whitewash over the visitors. The match ended in the second session of the third day as the Kiwis outplayed the Indian side yet again in all the departments of the game.
India could register a score of over 200 in only one of the four innings that they played in the series and the Black Caps had all the bases covered. This will indeed come as a rude wake up call for the No.1 Test side in the world. In this article, let us look at three Indian players who flopped in the Test series.
#3 Cheteshwar Pujara
The Indian batting main stay had an extremely poor series by his standards. Pujara could cross the 30-run mark just once in the four innings that he played on this tour. Apart from a 54 that he scored in the first innings of the second Test, Pujara had scores of 11,11, and 24 in the remaining three innings that he played in the series, to finish with a lowly average of 25.00.
He was out bowled in two out of the four innings by a ball that came into him. For a man who has one of the best defensive techniques in modern day cricket, Pujara fell short in the series.
Cheteshwar Pujara NZ series record: Innings: 4 | Runs: 100 | Average: 25.00 | 50s: 1
#2 Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant was preferred over Wriddhaman Saha for both the Tests, and in each of the four innings, the wicket keeper batsman disappointed. Pant had scores of 19 and 25 in the first Test, and followed that up with a miserable performance in the second Test as well. In the entire series, he could aggregate just 60 runs. For long, there has been talk about the talent of Pant, but he has not translated it into runs with the willow so far.
Rishabh Pant NZ series record: Innings: 4 | Runs: 60 | Average: 15.00 | 50s: 0
#1 Virat Kohli
2, 19, 3 and 14. These were the scores of the best Test batsman of the Indian side. Virat Kohli was all at sea in the Test series against the Kiwis, and could not even cross the 20-run mark in each of the four innings that he played.
In the first innings of the first Test, Kohli was dismissed when he chased a ball that swung away from him. He was nowhere close to the pitch of the ball and edged the cherry straight into the waiting hands of Ross Taylor. And, in both the innings of the second Test, the batting talisman was undone by a ball that came into him and caught him dead in front of the stumps. This is Kohli’s lowest aggregate in his career in a Test series that has a minimum of two matches.
Virat Kohli NZ series record: Innings: 4 | Runs: 38 | Average: 9.50 | 50s: 0
Also see | New Zealand vs India 2020: Virat Kohli backs Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara after Christchurch loss