Rohit Sharma goes past Virat Kohli on unwanted list after defeat in IND vs NZ 2024 1st Test

Team India captain Rohit Sharma has now gone past Virat Kohli as the Indian captain to register the most home losses in his Test captaincy tenure so far. This happened after Team India lost the series opener against New Zealand by eight wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

Batting first, Team India were skittled out for 46 in their first essay with the bat in hand, recording their lowest total at home and the third-lowest in their Test history. New Zealand responded with a huge total of 402 in their first innings and took a lead of 356 runs.

India, led by knocks from Sarfaraz Khan (150), Rishabh Pant (99), Virat Kohli (70) and Rohit Sharma (52), scored 462 runs and set New Zealand a target of 107 to chase. The Kiwis lost Tom Latham (0) early and Devon Conway (17) cheaply but Rachin Ravindra (39*) and Will Young (48*) steered New Zealand to a win to help them take a series lead and also secure their first win on Indian soil since 1988.

This defeat marked Rohit Sharma's third loss on home soil, joint third-most alongside MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Bishan Singh Bedi. Rohit surpassed Virat Kohli (2 losses) in this list after recording losses against Australia at Indore, England at Hyderabad and now against New Zealand at Bengaluru. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is the current leader of this list, with nine Test defeats on home soil to his name.

Virat has lost only two Test matches at home. The former Team India skipper lost his first home Test against Australia at Pune back in 2017 and then against England at Chennai in 2021.

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"We have the guys who know how to bounce back" - Rohit Sharma in the post-match press conference

Rohit Sharma had immense confidence in his teammates after the defeat and said that the squad has guys who know how to rebound after being put under pressure. He said in the post-match press conference:

"We knew it was going to be challenging with overcast conditions and pitch being a bit sticky. But I did not expect that we will be bowled out for under 50. Credit to New Zealand. They challenged every corner of our bat. We have the guys who know how to bounce back. We lost the first Test against England and then won the series."

New Zealand have a 1-0 series lead in the three-match Test series. The second Test will be played in Pune from October 24.